IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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k 


A 


O 


V. 


1.0 


I.I 


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■50   ^^~     H^H 

■^  1^    12.2 
Hi   U£    112.0 


L25  III  1.2I 


1.6 


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Photographic 

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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibiiographiques 


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D 


D 


n 
n 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagde 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  tt/ou  pelliculde 


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D 


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n 


n 


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10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

SOX 

\y 

12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


e 

Stalls 
IS  du 
nodifier 
ir  une 
ilmage 


BS 


errata 
I  to 

t 

9  pelure, 

on  d 


n 


32X 


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The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
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TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
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required.  The  following  diagrams  illusti^tta  the 
method: 


1 

2 

3 

L'exemplaire  film^  fut  reproduit  grdce  A  \a 
ginirosit^  de; 

Thomas  Fisher  Rare  Book  Library, 
University  of  Toronto  Library 

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filmage. 

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derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  fiimis  en  commencant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  chaque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — »-  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
film^s  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diff6rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich6,  il  est  film6  d  partir 
de  Tangle  supirieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nicessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
lllustrent  la  m^thode. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

%<- 


rfsoi 


SIVai'HSONIAN    INSTITUTION. 

UNITED    STATES     NATIONAL    MUSEUM. 


THE  EXPEDITION  TO  THE  FUNK  ISLAND,  WITH 

OBSERVATIONS  UPON  THE  HISTORY  AND 

ANATOMY  OF  THE  GREAT  AUK. 


BY 


FREDERIC   A.  LUCAS, 

Assistant  Curator  of  i lie  Depart »iint  of  Comparative  Anatomy. 


From  the  Report  of  the  National  Museum,  i887-'88,  pages  493-529,  and  plates  I^XXI-IyXXIII. 


i 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
1890. 


sMiriisoNiAX  iNsrri  i''ii()N.     ■ 

UNITED    STATES     NATIONAL     MUSEUM. 


THE  EXPEDITION  TO  THE  i^UNK  ISLAND.  WITH 

OBSERVATIONS  UPON  THE  HISTORY  AND 

ANATOMY   OF  THE  GREAT  AUK. 


BY 


FREDERIC   A.   LUCAS, 

Assislaiit  L'lirutiiy  nf  tlio  J/i'paytiiifnl  af  Ci'iiiparalii-r  Ainiloiiiy. 


I! 


Kroiii  the  Report  of  the  Xuliouiil  Miiseiun,  iSSy-'SS,  pages  .tv3-5J<),  niicl  plates  I,XXI-I,XXII1. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTINa    OFFICE. 
1S90, 


BSS^i 


?      r 
I      f 


The  Expedition  to  Fxtnk  Island,  with  Observations  upon  the 
History  and  Anatomy  of  the  (Ireat  Auk. 


By  FnKDKuic  A.  Lucas. 


Note.— In  188.5  the  writer  snggpstofl  to  ProfcsHor  Haird  tho  desirability  of  visiting 
Fuiili  Island  for  tbo  piirposfi  of  obtaining  roinains  of  tlie  Groat  Aul<,  but  in  vifw  of 
tho  attendant  oxpenso  and  many  ditUcnlties  to  be  surmounted,  the  project  was  not 
tlion  carried  out. 

In  1887  Profossor  Ha  'd  decided  to  send  tlie  U.  S.  Fish  Commission  schooner  (Iram- 
pus  to  northeastern  Nowfonndland  and  Labrador  to  iuvestigatti  tlie  truth  of  tho  many 
reports  of  the  abundance  of  mackorol  in  tho  .idjacent  waters,  and  since  the  route  i)ro- 
posed  would  take  tho  vessel  to  the  vicinity  of  Funk  Island,  the  writer  was  detailed 
to  accompany  the  expedition. 

Tho  Qrampiis  loft.  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  on  July  2,  and  returned  to  VVood'sHcdl, 
Massachusetts,  on  September  2,  having  visitjed  the  following  places:  the  Magdalen 
Islands,  Bird  Kecks,  St.  .lohns,  Newfoundland  ;  Funk  Island,  Penguin  Islands,  otf 
Cajie  Freels;  Seldom-Come- Hy,  Fogo  Island;  Toulinguet,  Canada  Bay,  Black  Bay, 
Labrador;  Mingan  Islands,  and  Percd,  Canada. 

So  far  as  possible  collections  were  made  at  these  localities,  and  while  in  niany  tho 
fauna  was  extremely  scanty,  the  material  obtained  was  oxtremoly  valuable. 

The  collection  of  bones  of  the  Great  Auk  obtained  at  Funk  Island  equaled  in  ox- 
tent  all  other  existing  collections  combined,  and  the  opportunity  was  atforded  for 
thoroughly  exploring  this  interesting  spot  for  the  first  time. 

Professor  Baird  never  knew  of  the  complete  success  of  the  expedition,  and  the  sad 
intelligence  of  his  death  reached  the  party  at  Port  Hawkesbury,  Nova  Scotia,  while 
on  its  return. 

A.— The  Bird  Rooks  and  Funk  Island  in  1887. 

It  is  now  about  fifty  years  since  the  Great  Auk  succumbed  to  tbe 
incessant  persecution  of  man,  disappeared  almost  simultaneously  from 
the  shores  of  Europe  and  America,  and  became  extinct. 

Found  along  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  by  the  early  explorers,  the 
countless  myriads  of  this  flightless  fowl  had  been  hunted  to  the  death 
with  the  murderous  instincts  and  disregard  for  the  morrow  so  charac- 
teristic of  the  white  race. 

While  from  a  strictly  utilitarian  stand^point  there  may  be  no  reason 
to  mourn  ior  the  Great  Auk,  the  naturalist  can  but  regret  its  wanton 
destruction  and  deplore  the  loss  of  so  interesting  a  bird. 

As  the  buttalo  contributed  to  the  opening  of  the  great  West,  and  the 
Bhytina  aided  in  the  exploration  of  the  northwest  coast,  the  Great  Auk 
played  its  part  in  settling  Newfoundland,  and  we  may  derive  what  con- 
solation we  can  from  Richard  Whitbourne'a  dic^Mm  that  "  God  made 
the  innocency  of  so  poor  a  creature  to  become  such  an  admirable 

instrument  for  the  sustentation  of  man." 

493 


ifrfrririTiiMiiaii 


41)4 


KEI'OUT    OF   NATIONAL    MUMKIJM,   IH88. 


Tlio  Oiirly  iiaviyiitoj-s,  tin's  Frcndi  llslu'iimMi  aiul  the  Kii^liHli  ooloiiists, 
ciu'li  iivaili'd  flu'iiist'lvc.s  to  the  ntiiiost  of  the  .stotti  of  this  sra-fowl 
wliutli  a  (to  the  iiiiliMtlu'icd  l)ii)»'«ls)  kindly  I'lovidciKui  had  piacH'd  at 
tlii'ir  disposal. 

For  many  years  the  birds  were  usiul  for  provision,  both  fresh  and 
salted,  and  piobably  for  bait  by  the  llslu'rnien,  bnt  yreat  as  was  the 
drain  made  on  the  birds  for  these  pnrposes  it  set>ms  unlikely  that  this 
alone  would  have  caused  their  extermination  in  so  short  a  time,  as  the 
(Jreat  Auk  was  not  such  a  <lelica(!y  that  unusual  etlorts  would  have 
been  made  to  obtain  it. 

The  trade  in  feathers  must  probably  be  debited  with  haviiifj  caused 
the  destruction  of  the  species,  for  althonjjh  there  seem  to  be  no  data 
showinj,^  when  or  why  the  demaiul  for  Auk  feathers  arose,  tiiere  are  ref- 
ereuces  to  it  in  various  works  on  Newfoundland,  whi<!h  seem  to  be  cor- 
roborated by  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Auks  whose  bodies  were 
left  to  molder  on  the  heij;hts  of  Funk  Island. 

Cartier,  who  visited  this  spot  in  ir>,'34,  makes  mention  of  the  bird  under 
the  name  of  Apponath,  and  in  the  (ihronides  of  voyages  from  15.'{0  on- 
ward, it  is  frequently  spoken  of  under  the  title  of  Penfiuin.* 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  (irarefowl  was  abuiulant  at  Pen- 
{iuiu  Islands,  otl"  Cape  la  Ilune,  on  the  southern  <!oast  of  Newfound- 
land, and  although  it  is  ditlicult  to  certainly  identify  this  as  the  Islaiul 
of  Penguins  mentioned  by  Master  Kobert  Ilore,  there  is  in  this  ease 
something  in  a  name. 

Names,  however,  are  by  no  means  to  be  relied  upon  unless  supported 
by  other  evidence,  and  there  is  great  ditliculty  in  detinitely  locating 
many  of  the  places  nientioned  in  the  early  chronicles. 

A  spot  might  receive  several  names  from  several  diti'erent  parties,  or, 
as  in  the  present  instance,  several  places  might  be  christened  alike. 
Again,  it  has  frequently  happened  in  Newfoundland  that  French  and 
Portuguese  names  have  been  so  altered  by  the  English  colonists  as  to  be 
quite  unrecognizable.  Thus  Cape  Race  of  to-day  was  originally  Cappa 
Kazza,  the  tiat  capo;  Cappa  Si)erauza  hides  its  identity  under  the  com- 
monplace name  of  Cape  Spear,  and  Bai  d'  Espoir  is  hoi)elessly  lost  as 
Bay  Despair. 

However  abundant  the  Great  Auk  may  have  been  elsewhere,  Funk 
Island  seems  to  Lave  been  its  chief  breeding  place,  and  here  it  doubt- 


*  The  naiiio  Poiigniii  wnnjiritt  appjied  to  theGreat  Aiik;  its  application  to  members 
of  the  Sphenhcidw  came  afterwards. 

The  name  Apponatli,  aeeordinjj  to  Cartier,  was  applied  by  the  natives  to  a  species 
of  bird,  snpposably  the  Great  Auk,  that  he  found  in  great  altundance  at  the  Island  of 
Birds  (Funk  Island). 

These  natives  were  very  likely  the  Beothucs,  although,  making  due  allowance  lor 
the  twists  a  word  receives  in  being  adopted  into  a  new  language,  the  term  Appouath 
may  have  come  from  the  Eskimo  word  agpa,  an  Auk. 

The  Eskimo  for  the  Groat  Auk  was  isarokitsok,  he  that  has  little  wings;  for  little 
auk,  agparak. 


t 


KXI'KIJITION    TO    FUNK    IHhAND. 


41)5 


I 


ill 


less  liiiffon'd  loMtr  after  it  liinl  bciMuuo  oxtirpiiti'il  in  other  aiul  iiion'  luv 
i;essil»le  l<>(!aliti»'M.  liViii^'  .'{'J  miles  out  in  tlie  Atliiiitic,  eiix  ironed  l»y 
roe.ks  and  .sliouls,  where  ilie  sea  lu'eaks  heavily  diiiin;;  stornus,  tho 
vicinity  of  Fnnk  Island  is  by  no  nu'iins  attraelivt^  to  th«>  nioih'rn  navi- 
pitor,  Jiinl  of  lute  years  has  been  seldom  visited  except  by  Healers,  par- 
ti('s  of  e;,'{;tMM,  and  ocreasionai  lishernu'n. 

The  sailors  of  old  and  the  hai'dy  eolonists  seem  to  havo  habitually 
rj'sorted  to  this  spot  for  supplies,  partly  because  there  were  no  cliails 
to  warn  them  of  hidden  perils,  and  i>artly  for  the  reason  that  suppliei) 
must  be  had  at  any  risk.* 

Tlu'refore  the  work  of  slayiufj;  the  (Ireat  Auks  went  steadily  on  uidil 
the  last  of  the  si)ecieM  had  disapp«'ar«'d  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and 
the  place  to  whicih  it  resorted  for  untold  aj;'es  knew  it  no  nmre. 

With  few  exceptions  naturalists  seem  not  to  have  bei'U  aware  of  the 
fact  that  the  (Ireat  Auk  wa*.  bein^  (^\tern^nated  until  the  catastrophe 
had  actually  taken  place,  and  fewer  still  appear  to  havo  thou},ditof  the 
calamity  as  occurriufj  in  America  as  well  as  in  Europe. 

Audubon,  who,  by  the  way,  wrote  of  the  bird  at  se(N)nd  hand,  says  in 
his  work  (published  between  l.S.JDand  1814)  that  the  (Ireat  Auk  is  rare 
or  a(!ci(hMital  on  the  coast  ot  Newfoundland,  and  is  said  by  tishermen, 
who  kill  the  young  f-»r  b  lit,  to  breed  on  a  rock  otitlie  southeast  coast  of 
that  island. 

This  speaks  of  the  bird  as  rare,  {jivinjf  no  hint  that  it  was  then  looked 
upon  as  extinct,  but  in  the  "  (lloucester  Tele}>raph"  for  August  7,  18.'V.),  is 
an  article  from  the  "  Salem  Register"  signed  "  A  Fisherman,"  in  which 
the  Great  Auk  is  spoken  of  as  being  already  externunated. 

This  paragraph  which  is  interesting  in  that  it  adds  one  more  cause 
for  the  extermiiuition  of  the  bird  to  those  already  known,  is  as  follows : 

All  tho  iiiiickorcl men  who  arrive  report,  tlie  Hcarcity  of  this  lisli,  iiiid  at  tlio  same 
time  I  notice  an  improvement  in  taking  tliem  with  nets  atCapeCoil  ami  oilier  pi, ires. 

If  this  spocnlatit)n  is  to  yo  on  withont  lieing  checked  or  regnlated  l)y  tlie  Govern- 
ment, will  not  these  fish  be  as  scarce  on  the  coast  as  penjjnins  are,  which  were  so 
plenty  before  the  Revolutionary  War  tinit  onr  fishermen  conld  take  them  with  their 
gatfs?  Bnt  during  the  war  some  mercenary  and  crnel  individuals  nsed  to  visit  the 
islands  on  the  eastern  coast  where  were  the  haunts  of  these  liirds  for  breeding,  and 
take  them  for  tho  sake  of  tho  fat,  which  they  procnred  and  then  let  the  birds  yo.t 

This  proceeding  destroyed  the  whole  race. 

The  Kev.  William  Wilson,  who  resided  in  Newfoundland  as  a  mission- 
ary from  1820  to  1834,  and  who  once  preached  a  sermon  against  the 


*The  writer  has  uo  intention  of  pictnring  the  difflcnlty  of  lauding  on  Fnnk  Island 
in  too  dark  colors.  It  is  simply  a  question  of  striking  a  favorable  time,  and  while 
the  dweller  on  the  coast  can  choose  his  time,  the  chance  visitor  mnst  trust  to  Inck, 
and  Inck  is  ever  an  nncertain  element.  At  tlie  time  of  onr  visit  landing  on  "  Tlie 
Bench  "  was  a  simple  matter,  althongh  at  any  other  point  a  boat  wonld  have  been 
dashed  to  pieces  in  the  surf;  a  little  later  another  collector  lost  a  fortnight  in  trying 
to  laud,  and  then  gave  it  up. 

tOf  late  years  the  peuguins  of  the  Antarctic  Seas  have  been  killed  by  sealers  and 
tried  out  for  oil. 


4'JG 


KKrolCT   OK    NATIONAL    MUHKIIM,   IX«H. 


wiuitnn  .sliiii^Mitt't' of  tlio  hiril,*  \vi<»t(>  of  tlif  (irciit  Aiik  in  IH(il  tliiit 
"  IliilCu  ct'iitiir.v  ;iy(»  tlu' pni^Miiii  wa.s  vcr.N  plnily.  •  •  •  Tin*  pen- 
^iiiii  is  now  hitl  scliliini  socn  ;  niicIi  dcsti'iiction  ot  the  bird  was  made  tor 
tltu  Hak<^  of  its  t'catlicrs  that  it  is  now  all  but  extinct. t 

Tlio  iixa(;t  derivation  of  the  word  pen^nin  and  the  date  at  which  It 
came  into  use  is  uncertain,  altli«iii;>'h  it  occurs  in  the '^  Vo.va^c  of  M. 
Ilore  and  divers  oilier  i^cnllenuMi  lo  Newfoundland  and  <'ape  ilreton  in 
the  \eer(^  l.VMi."  I'rofesscu'  Newton  (than  wlioni  there  can  Im  no  better 
authority)  considers  it  proliabh^  that  pen^^iiin  is  derived  from />/u/r /.<//, 
a  name  still  sonu'what  UHud  in  Newfoundland,  and  that  this  term  was 
bestowed  on  thedicat  Auk  by  the  lOn^lish  llslu'rmen  fron>  the  fact 
that  the  bird  was  as  llijjhth'ss  as  if  pinwin^M'd,  in  more  modern  parlance 
pinioned.  This  operation  consists  in  bendin;;'  down  the  outer  Joint  of 
the  win};,  as  in  plucked  chicketiM,  ur  in  locking  the  wings  t(»<>e  her 
across  the  back. 

Professor  Steenstrup,  on  the  other  hand,  believes  the  word  to  be  of 
Wi'hrh  oiigin,from  pen,  white,  and  //<<•///,  In^ad  ;  and  althoujfh  tln^  head 
of  (Ireat  Aidv  is  not  white,  yet  there  is  a  largt'  white  spot  Just  i'l  front 
of  the  eye  of  sulVuMcnt  size  to  warrant  the  appellation. 

The  French  /)««.r/o»//t  is  of  later  «late  than  p(Miguin  and  was  probably 
derived  from  the  English  word,  and  thoutrh  the  supposition  that  both 
came  from  the  >S[>anish  pintfue,  fat,  meets  with  no  favor  from  either 
Professor  Newton  or  I'rofessor  Steenstrup,  it  is  after  all  not  without 
some  slight  shosv  of  reason. 

The  lishernu'u  of  Nornnindy,  lirittany,  and  the  Hascpie  provinces 
were  the  earliest  to  resort  to  Newfoundlaiul,  and  these  were  on  the 
ground  as  early  as  1504,  only  seven  years  after  the  discovery  of  the  isl- 
and by  Cabot.  In  1517  there  were  forty  Portuguese,  French,  ami  Span- 
ish vessels  engaged  in  the  cod  fishery;  ami  in  157S,  ac(!ording  to  llak- 
luyt,  three  Imudred  and  lifty  Spanish  and  French  vessels  and  oidy  lifty 
English. 

Thus  it  would  appear  that  there  was  some  chance  of  the  Great  Auk 
having  received  its  original  name  from  the  Spanish  or  French  lishermen 
although  the  English  speaking  race  has  ever  possessed  the  happy  fac 
ulty  of  forcing  its  language  upon  all  with  whom  it  comes  in  contact. 

That  the  Great  Auk  was  well  known  at  an  early  date  is  shown  by 
Anthonie  Parkhurst's  statement,  written  in  1578,  that  "  the  Frenchmen 
who  tish  neere  the  grand  baie,|  doe  bring  small  store  of  tlesh  with  them, 
but  victuall  themselves  with  these  birds"  (i)euguins). 

The  extermination  ot  the  Great  Auk  took  place  so  suddenly  that  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  skins,  skeletons,  and  eggs  were  pre- 
served in  museums,  and  in  America,  where  the  garefowl  had  been  most 
abundant,  scarce  a  specimen  existed. 


• 


*Giveu  on  the  autbority  of  Mr.  George  A.  Boanlninn. 

tNewfoundiaud  and  its  niiasiouaries,  by  Rev.  William  Wilson.    Cambridge,  1866. 
t  Probably  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  as  our  own  fishermen  still  speak  of  this  as 
"  The  Bay." 


KXI'KIUTION    TO    IMJNK    JHLANf). 


497 


I 


iia 


Tlio  U.  S.  Niitioiiiil  MiiMciiin  po.s.s(>.sh<m(  a  stiilVinl  N|u>ciin(Mi  iiiid  iiti  o^^, 
but  ill  K^'i'i^  <>^'*^i'  tlit^  ostcolo^fical  cDlltM'.tioit  a  Hiii|;U^  Iiuiimmiis  of  tlio 
(rt'ciit  AiiU  vviiH  all  tliiU  coiiM  Ih>  t'oiiixl,  ami  (n'<>!i  this  was  troin  a  Ninv 
Kii);laii(l  sIm'II  li«M|>.  In  tlir  Npnii^  ot  \f>!^~t  tluMviitci  sii^^csttMl  tlia 
^reat  (IcsiraUilit.v  of  sciciiriiii;,  if  possiUln.  (iMii'i-  I)oih-s  of  Miis  t^xtinct 
l)it'il,  which  (M)iiUl  ihMiWth'SH  bi>  tbiiiiil  on  l<'tink  l.slainl,  wht'n^  l'rot'oM8or 
Milne  had  mckmuimI  a  niiinhci'  (luring  a  biicf  visit  in  Lh74.  This  hu^^^cs* 
tion  met  witii  th<>  approval  of  IM'ot'essor  iiaird,  luit  sonu>  (torrcspoiid- 
enco  with  t\w  IJev.  M.  Ilaiviiyi  of  St.  . John's,  Nt'wroimdlatnl,  made  vvi- 
dent  the  favX  that  in  oi'dcr  to  insnn^thc  snc<;css  ofaiM^xpi'dition  to  Funk 
iHland  Hoino  natiiialist  should  au(;oinpaiiy  the  party,  and  that  such  a 
trip  would  entail  th;i  expenditure  of  (MMisiderable  time  and  tnoney. 

So  the  matter  rested  until  the  year  of  1H87,  when  it  beeaine  apparent 
that  the  work  of  the  IJ.  H.  Fish  C'oinmis.sioii  woiilil  make  it  desirable  for 
the  schooner  (huuiipuH  to  visit  theeoast  of  Newl'oundliind  and  Labrador, 
and  the  question  uf  visiting  Funk  Island  was  referred  to  Captain  Col- 
lins. 

The  undertakinjj:  met  with  the  approval  of  Captain  Collins,  who  by 
iudorsin^  the  enterprise  at  the  outset,  and  by  cordial  cooperation 
throughout  the  resulting  trip,  ensured  the  complete  success  of  the  ex- 
peditiou. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  detailed  to  accompany  the  (hampus^ 
primarily  to  collect  remains  of  the  Great  Auk,  and  also  to  secure  as 
much  other  anatomical  material  as  might  be  obtainable. 

As  the  proposed  route  would  take  the  vessel  to  some  localities  where 
little  collecting  had  been  done,  Mr.  William  Palmer  was  also  detailed 
for  the  trij).  He  devoted  himself  especially  to  the  birds  and  his  iuter- 
esting  observations  appear  elsewhere. 

A  more  harmonious  i)arty  probably  never  cruised  together,  and  to 
this,  ami  to  the  fact  that  the  rig  ami  eiiuipment  ot  the  drampm  litte<l 
her  perfectly  for  the  work  iu  baud,  may  be  attributed  the  success  of 
the  voyage. 

The  middle  of  June  was  the  date  set  for  sailing,  but  owing  to  circum- 
stances the  Grampus  did  not  leave  (rloucester  until  July  2,  a  delay, 
however,  that  proved  to  be  for  the  best,  as  the  summer  of  1887  was 
unusually  backward  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 

The  Bird  Rocks  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  was  the  first  i)lace  set 
down  for  a  visit,  but  as  wind  and  sea  were  then  too  fi'gh  for  landing 
July  8  was  passed  at  Grindstone  Island,  of  the  Magda  ;n  groui),  where 
a  few  birds  were  collected. 

The  only  mammal  seen  was  a  young  seal  {Phoca  vitulina),  and  it  is 
difficult  to  realize  that  the  Magdalen  Islands  were  once  the  seat  of  a 
flourishing  walrus  fishery,  and  tha  ,  thousands  of  those  huge  beasts  were 
annually  slaughtered  along  their  barren  shores. 

Molineux  Shuldhain,  writing  in  1775,  speaks  of  the  walrus  as  being 
found  on  the  Magdaleus,  St.  John's  Island,  and  Anticosti,  and  the 
H.  MiG.  142,  pt.  2 32 


498 


REPOKT   OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,  1888. 


animal  was  occasionally  seen  in  tbe  f^iilf  duriug  the  first  part  of  thft 
present  century. 

A  little  after  noon  on  Jnly  9  we  came  to  anchor  oft'  the  Bird  llocks,  a 
spot  full  of  interest  both  to  the  naturalist  and  historian,  tor  these  little 
islets  were  resorted  to  for  sujjplies  by  the  old  navigators,  and  we  find 
them  several  times  mentioned  in  Ilakluyt's  Voyages,  first,  so  far  as  1  am 
aware,  by  Jacques  Cartier  in  June,  1534. 

Carfcier's  account  runs  thus : 

Tbo  next  day  being  the  "J.')  of  tlie  luouoth,  the  woatbor  was  also  stormic,  darko, 
and  v'indy,  but  yet  we  sailed  a  part  of  tbe  day  toward  weHt-nortliwesl,  and  iu  tbe 
evening  woo  put  onrsolvcH  atbwartuntill  tbe  second  (juartcr;  wLcn,  as  we  departed, 
tben  did  we  by  our  conipasso  know  tbat  we  wore  northwest  by  west  about  seven 
leagues  and  an  halfe  from  the  Cape  of  S.  John,  and  as  wee  were  about  to  boisoaailo 
the  wind  turned  into  the  northwest,  wberefore  wee  wont  southeast  about  15  leagues, 
and  came  to  tliree  iiands,  two  of  wbicii  are  as  steepe  and  upright  as  any  wall,  so 
tbat  it  was  not  possible  to  clinibe  them,  and  betweene  thoiu  there  is  a  little  rocko. 

These  iiands  were  as  full  of  birds  as  any  field  or  niedov  i,s  of  grasse,  whicb  there 
do  make  their  ncstes,  and  in  the  greatest  of  them  there  was  a  great  and  infinite  num- 
ber ot  those  that  we  call  Margaulx,  tbat  are  white  and  bigger  than  any  geese,  which 
were  severed  in  one  part.  In  the  otber  were  onely  Godetz,  but  toward  *he  shoare 
tbore  were  of  those  (Jodetz  and  great  Apponatz  like  to  those  of  tbat  ilaud  that  we 
above  have  mentioned.  We  went  downe  to  tbe  lowest  part  of  tin*  least  iland  where 
we  killed  above  a  thousand  of  those  Godetz  and  Apponatz.  Wo  put  into  our  boatos 
80  many  of  them  as  we  i)leasod,  for  iu  lesso  than  cue  boure  wo  might  have  filled  tbirtie 
such  boats  of  them. 

Wo  named  them  tbe  Iiands  of  Margaulx,* 

Charles  Leigh's  account  of  his  visit  in  1597  is  as  follows : 

Tbo  14  (of  June)  we  came  to  tbe  two  Islands  of  Birds,  some  23  leagues  from  Mene- 
go,  wbere  there  wore  such  abundance  of  birds  as  is  almost  "ncrediblo  to  report.  And 
upon  tbe  lesse  of  these  Islands  of  Birds  we  saw  great  store  of  morsses  or  sea-oxen, 
wbicb  wore  a  sleepe  upon  the  rocks,  but  when  wo  api)roacbed  nerc  unto  them  with 
our  boate  they  cast  themselves  into  tbo  sea  and  pursued  us  with  such  furio  as  that 
we  were  glad  to  dee  from  them.  Tbe  IG  wo  arrived  at  Brian's  Island,  wbicb  lyeth  5 
leagues  west  from  the  Island  of  Birds.t 

And  a  little  further  on  we  find  him  telling  us  that — 

The  greatest  of  these  islands  is  about  a  railo  iu  couipasso.  The  second  is  little  lesso. 
Tbe  tbird  is  a  very  little  one,  like  a  small  rocko.  At  tbo  second  of  these  three  lay  on 
the  shore  in  the  sunshine  about  thirty  or  forty  seaoxon  or  morses,  which,  when  our 
boat  came  nere  them,  presently  made  into  tbo  sea,  and  swam  after  the  boat.t 

That  Cartier's  "Isles  des  Margaulx"  are  the  Bird  Kocks  of  to-day 
seems  unquestionable,  although  no  locality  at  all  can  be  found  by  fol- 
lowing the  courses  and  distances  given  as  having  been  sailed  on  June 
24  and  25,  1534. 

But  by  following  Cartier  northward  from  Buena  Vista,  through  the 
Strait  of  Belle  Isle,  and  thence  southward,  we  learn  from  tlie  latitudes 

*  Hakluyt's  "(JoUoctlon  of  Voyages."    London,  IGOO,  Vol.  in,  i».  205. 

t  Hakluyt,  Vol.  in,  p.  242. 

t  Hakluyt,  Vol.  in,  p.  249.  This  has  tbe  appearance  of  being  a  revision  of  tbe  first 
account,  written  oitber  much  later  or  by  a  better  scbolai  than  tbe  writer  of  the 
description  on  p.  242. 


EXPEDITION  TO   PUNK   ISLAND. 


499 


now  and  then  given  that  on  June  25  he  must  have  been  somewhere  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Bird  Rocks. 

It  is  also  dilflcult  to  resist  the  temptation  of  suggesting  that  there 
has  been  a  mistake  in  translating  Cartier's  log,  and  that  "  15  leagues 
southeast"  should  be  15  leagues  southwest.  This  is  certainly  a  some- 
what radi(5al  change,  but  the  difference  between  Hudest  and  suflonest  is 
not  very  great  to  the  eye,  and  the  translator  might  easily  have  gone 
astray  there. 

Moreover  why  Cartier  should  have  run  dead  before  the  wind  to  the 
eastward  when  h«*  seems  to  have  been  trying  to  work  to  the  westward, 
and  could  have  held  his  own  simply  by  keeping  the  wind  abeam,  is  rather 
strange. 

Finally,  if  he  was  seven  «and  a  half  leagues  northwest  by  west  from 
some  point  on  the  west  coast  of  Newfoundland,  a  run  of  15  leagues 
southeast  would  have  carried  him  plump  ashore,  owing  to  the  great 
amount  of  westerly  variation. 

In  this  connection  I  desire  to  express  my  indebtedness  .  the  courtesy 
of  Commander  -T.  R.  Bartlett,  Chief  of  the  Hydrograi)hic  Office,  and  to 
Mr.  G.  W.  Littlehales,  of  the  Division  of  Chart  Construction,  for  very 
kindly  supplying  me  with  the  necessary  data  for  solving  this  problem. 

Fortunately,  too,  there  is  a  reference  to  the  island  of  Brion,  giving  its 
distance  and  direction  from  the  lies  des  Margaulx,  and  tliis  is  alone  suf- 
ftcient  to  identify  the  spot,  as  they  harmonize  with  existing  facts. 

Brion  Island,  like  Blanc  Sablon  and  Chateau  Bay  (the  Bay  of  Castles 
in  Hakluyt),  has  luckily  retained  its  name  unchanged,  while  so  many 
other  places  have  either  been  re-named  or  had  their  original  appellations 
anglicized  out  of  existence. 

Further  confirmati<m  is  found  in  the  Margaulx  themselves,these  birds, 
"  which  bite  even  as  dogs,"  being  gannets,  whose  descendants,  in  spite 
of  centuries  of  persecution,  may  still  be  found  breeding  where  their 
ancestors  did  before  them.  Ordiimrily  the  presence  or  absence  of  any 
giv^en  species  of  bird  might  seem  of  small  value  as  a  factor  in  the 
identification  of  a  locality,  but  the  gannet  is  extremely  critical  m  the 
<5Uoice  of  a  breeding  place,  and  extremely  pertinacious  in  clinging  to  it 
when  once  selected. 

Once  established,  nothing  short  of  complete  destruction  appears  to 
drive  them  away,  and  unless  carefully  protected  this  curiously  conserv- 
ative spirit  will  eventually  result  in  extermination. 

Tlius,  while  there  are  many  points  along  the  coast  from  Maine  to  Lab- 
rador where  the  Gannets  might  breed,  they  are  found,  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  ascertain,  only  at  three  places,  an  island  in  the  Bay  of 
Fundy,  the  Bird  Rocks  and  Bonaventure  Island  at  Perce,  Canada,  the 
colony  at  Mingan  being  too  small  and  too  nearly  externiinated  to  be 
taken  into  consideration.  * 


•Dr.  Stcjnojjer  tolls  me  ihat  the  aaiiio  tliiiig  occurs  in  Europo,  where  the  G.'innots 
cross  the  North  Sea  to  breed  on  the  Scottish  coast,  although  there  arc  uuuicrous 
favorable  localities  oa  the  coast  of  Norway. 


11 


500 


REPORT  Orr  NATIONAL  MUSEUM,  1888. 


l\ 


That  Oartier's  description  of  the  islands  does  not  quite  accord  with 
their  present  appearance  is  not  to  be  wondered  at. 

The  material  of  which  they  are  composed  is  a  soft,  decomposing  red 
sandstone  that  succumbs  so  easily  to  the  incessant  attacks  of  the  sea 
that  Dr.  Bryant's  description  of  them  in  1860  does  not  hold  good  today. 
If,  then,  the  Bird  Eocks  have  undergone  visible  changes  in  twenty-five 
years,  it  is  easy  to  imagine  how  great  are  the  alterations  they  may  have 
undergone  during  three  and  a  half  centuries. 

Dr.  Bryant,  in  1861,  wrote  as  follows:* 

These  (the  Bird  Rocks)  are  two  in  number,  called  the  Great  Bird  or  Gannot  Rock, 
and  the  Little  or  North  Bird;  they  are  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  apart,  the 
water  between  them  very  shoal,  showing  that,  at  no  very  distant  epoch,  they  formed 
a  single  island.  *  *  *  The  North  Bird  is  much  the  smallest  and  though  the  base 
is  more  accessible,  the  summit  can  not,  I  believe,  bo  reached;  at  least  I  was  unable  to 
do  so;  it  is  the  most  irregular  in  its  outline,  presenting  many  enormous,  detached 
fragments,  and  is  divided  in  one  place  into  two  separate  islands  at  high  water,  the 
northerly  one  several  times  higher  than  broad,  so  as  to  present  the  appearance  of  a 
huge  rocky  pillar. 

Gannet  Rock  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  its  longest  diameter  from  8W.  to  NE.  The 
highest  point  of  the  rock  is  at  the  uorthevly  end,  where,  according  to  the  chart,  it  is 
140  feet  high,  and  from  which  it  gradually  slopes  to  the  southerly  end,  whore  it  is 
from  80  to  100. 

The  sides  are  nearly  vertical,  the  summit  in  many  places  overhanging.  There  are 
two  beaches  at  its  base  on  the  southerly  and  westerly  sides,  the  most  westerly  one 
comparatively  smooth  and  composed  of  rounded  stones. 

The  easterly  one,  on  the  contrary,  is  very  rough  and  covered  by  irregular  blocks, 
many  of  large  size  and  still  angular,  showing  that  they  have  but  recently  fallen  from 
the  cliffs  above. 

This  beach  is  very  difficult  to  land  on,  but  the  other  presents  no  great  difficulty  in 
ordinary  weather;  the  top  of  the  rock  can  not,  however,  be  reached  from  either  of 
them.  The  only  spot  from  which  at  present  the  ascent  can  be  made  is  the  rocky 
point  between  the  two  beaches. 

It  was  on  this  point,  by  the  way,  that  Audubon's  son  landed  June 
14,  1833. 

The  Great  Rock  has  apparently  altered  but  little  during  the  past 
twenty-five  years,  but  such  changes  as  have  taken  place  Isave  tended 
to  improve  the  character  of  the  southerly  beach,  which  has  been  selected 
by  the  keeper  of  the  light-house  for  the  customary  landing  place. 
Two  long  ladders,  bolted  to  the  rock  and  leading  to  the  summit  have 
been  erected. 

The  westerly  beach  is,  however,  the  most  accessible,  and  it  is  here 
that  the  heavy  light-house  supplies  are  landed,  a  large  hoisting  appar 
ratus  having  been  placed  at  the  top  of  the  overhanging  olili'. 

If  the  Great  Rock  is  but  little  changed,  its  lesser  relative  has  suffered 
greatly,  sea  and  frost,  rain  and  ice  having  wrought  sad  havoc  with  it, 
splitting  great  fragments  from  the  sides  so  that  a  landing  once  effected 
it  is  now  an  easy  matter  to  reach  the  top. 

"Remarks  on  some  birds  that  breed  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  by  Henry  Brya»< 
M.D.Proo.  Bos.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  Vol.  VIII,  1861-'62,  pp.  65-75. 


EXPEDITION    TO   PUNK   ISLAND. 


501 


Brya»< 


LiUidiii^  cjin  lianlly  be  called  easy  ii.  y  but  the  finest  of  weather, 
but  on  the  afternoon  of  our  visu  we  were  favored  with  a  calm,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  beaching  our  boat  on  the  southerly  side  without  diflBculty, 
possibly  on  the  same  spot  where  nearly  three  centuries  before  Charles 
Leigh  found  a  lierd  of  huge  walruses  basking  in  the  sun. 

The  Little  Rock  is  about  75  yards  long  and  perhaps  50  feet  in  height. 
It  is  divided  into  two  portions  by  a  wide  cleft,  that  seems  from  ihe  con- 
dition of  the  fallen  rocks  to  be  of  comparatively  recent  origin,  and  it  is 
oidy  a  question  of  time  when  there  shall  be  two  islets  instead  of  one. 

Twenty-live  yards  from  the  eastern  point  lies  the  little  rocky  pillar 
mentioned  by  Dr.  Bryant,  but  this  is  now  separated  from  the  Little  Bock 
even  at  low  tide,  although  if  one  does  not  mind  cold  water  and  slip- 
pery rocks,  it  is  then  an  easy  matter  to  wade  across  the  connecting 
ledge. 

About  midway  between  the  Great  and  Little  Rocks  is  a  shoal  which 
may  possibly  mark  the  site  of  the  little  rock  mentioned  by  Cartier, 
althougii  the  islet,  that  for  lack  of  a  name  may  be  called  the  Pillar, 
agrees  sufficiently  well  with  the  description. 

It  has  been  considered  probable  that  the  Great  Auk  once  bred  here, 
and  that  this  was  the  bird  Cartier  calls  the  Great  Apponatz.  True,  a 
few  may  have  strayed  here  from  the  colony  at  Penguin  Island,  oflf  Cape 
la  Hune,*  but  this,  from  the  clannish  habits  of  the  bird,  seems  doubtful. 
Besides  the  area  available  for  breeding  purposes  is  limited  to  a  narrow 
strip  on  the  northeastern  point,  and  a  still  more  restricted  portion  on 
the  southern  side,  these  being  the  only  places  accessible  to  a  flightless 
bird  like  the  Garefowl. 

Mr.  Grieve  suggests  in  a  recent  letter  that  in  former  times  the  space 
at  the  base  of  the  Little  Rock  was  much  more  extended  than  at  present, 
since  Cartier's  crew  "  killed  above  a  thousand  of  these  Godetz  and  Ap- 
ponatz "  "  on  the  lowest  part  of  the  least  island." 

This  supposition  may  well  be  correct,  yet  careful  observation  of  the 
rock  and  the  depth  of  water  immediately  about  it  leads  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  changes  it  may  have  undergone  have  been  the  result  of 
the  fall  of  fragments  from  the  ovarbanging  sides  rather  than  the  wearing 
away  of  the  base. 

Charles  Leigh  makes  no  mention  of  Penguins  at  the  tirae  of  his  visit 
in  1597,  although  it  seems  probable  that  he  would  have  done  so  had 
they  been  there. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Bird  Rocks  agree  in  location  with  the  "  Island 
of  Penguin,"  mentioned  by  Silvestre  Wyet,  shipmaster  of  Bristol,  in 
1594,  "  which  lyeth  south  from  the  easternmost  part  of  Natiscotec 
(Auticosti)  some  twelve  leagues.  From  the  island  of  Penguin  wee 
shaped  our  course  for  Cape  de  Rey  and  had  sight  of  the  Island  of  Cape 
Briton." 

•The  presence  of  the  Great  Auk  at  the  Cape  la  Huue,  Penguin  Islands,  is  very 
largely  presumptive,  positive  evidence  to  that  eflfect  being  lacking. 
They  may  be  the  islands  mentioned  by  M.  Hore,  or  they  may  not. 


1  N 


■—■ 


.-■i-uu-i— se; 


502 


REPORT    OV    NATrONAL    MUSEUM,  1888. 


if  the  Godetz  and  A|)|K)Mate  were  Miurcs  and  Kazor-bills  it  would 
have  required  hnt  a  (joinpaialivcly  sniall  extent  of  cliff  for  their  accom- 
modation, for  at  this  early  date  every  available  inch  of  room  must  have 
been  occnpied. 

The  top  of  the  Little  Rock  was  covered  witii  a  thin  deposit  of  guano, 
marked  with  many  shallow,  saneer-like  depressions  where  the  Gaunets 
had  made  their  nests,  bar  not  a  single  egg  of  this  species  was  to  be 
seen,  and  the  few  eggs  of  the  M.urre  and  liazor-bill  that  were  subs»v 
qnently  found  had  evidently  been  overlooked  by  the  fishermen  who 
resort  to  this  rock  for  supplies,  and  who  had  made  a  clean  sweep  of 
everything  within  reach. 

A  few  Kittywakes  had  literally  reared  their  young  on  the  southern 
side,  and  under  the  overhanging  cliff  on  the  northwest  a  small  number 
of  Murres,  Kazor-bi'ls,  and  Puffins  were  breeding. 

Careful  search  brought  to  light  a  few  eggs  and  nestlings,  some  of 
these  latter  so  carefully  concealed  among  the  bowlders  that  but  for 
their  incessant  peeping  they  would  have  been  passed  by. 

The  top  of  the  pillar  was  closely  packed  with  breeding  Gannets,  while 
a  few  were  sprinkled  along  the  sides.  As  this  rock  is  somewhat  ditii- 
cult  of  access  these  birds,  together  with  a  small  colony  of  Murres  and 
Razor-bills,  probably  succeeded  in  raising  their  young.  From  this  spot 
three  young  Gannets  were  obtained,  these  being  the  lirst  of  the  season, 
according  to  Mr.  Turbid,  the  light-keeper,  who  most  kiiully  gave  us  all 
the  aid  and  information  in  his  power. 

The  Great  Rock  is  the  real  breeding  place  of  the  birds,  Gannets, 
Murres,  Puffins,  and  Razor-bills  being  both  abundant  and  tame,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  they  are  subjected  to  continual  persecution.  The  birds 
do  not  seem  to  be  divided  into  colonies  according  to  species,  Gau- 
nets and  Murres  being  found  in  juxtaposition,  and  although  the 
Gannets  prefer  the  upper  ledges,  yet  their  distribution  is  to  a  great  ex- 
tent regulated  by  the  width  of  the  rocky  shelves,  the  Murres  taking 
possession  where  there  is  not  sufficient  room  to  accommodate  their 
larger  companions.  There  is,  however,  a  tendency  of  birds  of  afeather 
to  flock  together  in  little  groups  of  a  dozen  or  two,  and  at  a  distance  the 
cliffs  appear  seamed  with  white,  owing  to  the  long  lines  of  perching 
Gannets. 

The  top  of  the  Great  Rock  is  now  entirely  deserted  by  all  birds  ex- 
cept the  little  Leach's  Petrels,  who  burrow  in  security  among  the  frag- 
ments of  stone  that  everywhere  show  through  the  shallow  soil. 

It  is  evident  from  the  accounts  of  previous  visitors  that  the  interest- 
ing colony  at  the  Bird  Rocks  has  become  sadly  diminished  in  numbers. 
At  the  time  of  Cartier's  visit,  every  inch  of  available  space  seems  to 
have  been  occupied  by  breeding  birds,  and  in  1597  Charles  Leigh  said 
"the  three  islands  of  birds  are  sandy  red,  but  with  the  multitude  of 
birds  upon  them  they  looke  white.  The  birds  sit  there  as  thieke  as  stones 
lie  iu  a  paved  street." 


k\-' 


V'    . 


KXriODITION    TO    FUNK    ISLAND. 


503 


At  the  time  of  Aii(liil)(»ir.s  visit  in  iJS.'J.'t  lie  eoinpared  the  ert'ect  of  the 
birds,  seen  tioia  ii  distiiiice  lioveiiiig  over  the  .siiiiiinit,  to  a  heiivy  fall 
of  snow. 

The  Gsmnets  were  tlien  largely  used  for  bait  by  the  fishermeu  of 
Bryon  Island,  no  less  tliau  forty  boats  l)einj;'  supplied  from  the  Bird 
Koeks,  and  Aiidul)oii  relates  how  a  i)arty  ot  six  killed  with  clubs  five 
hundred  and  forty  birds  in  less  than  an  hour. 

In  1800  Dr.  Bryant  estimated  thenumberofGanuets  breeding  on  the 
summit  of  the  (xroat  llo(;k  alone  at  5(),()00  ixiirs,  the  total  number  at 
75,()(M)  pairs,  although  these  hgures  are  veiy  likely  too  high. 

In  1872,  owing  to  the  erection  of  the  light- house,  the  colony  on  top 
of  the  rock  had  become  reduced  to  5,000,  and  in  1881  Mr.  Wm.  Brew- 
ster found  that  the  (lannets  had  been  entirely  driven  from  the  summit, 
although  the  Little  Rock  was  still  densely  populated.  He  places  the 
total  Gaunet  [»opulation  of  the  rocks  at  50,000,  which  is  still  an  ex- 
traordinary and  iiii[)ressive  number,  although  much  less  than  the  figures 
of  previous  observers. 

In  1887,  only  six  years  later,  not  a  single  Gannet  bred  on  the  Little 
Rock,  although  perhaps  a  hundred  and  tifty  may  have  found  nesting 
places  on  the  I'illar,  while  ac(;ording  to  M.  Turbid  not  more  than  ten 
thousand  dwelt  on  the  ledges  of  the  Great  Rock. 

Besides  the  Bird  Rocks  the  oidy  large  colony  of  Gannets  in  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence  is  at  Bonaventure  Island,  on  the  Canadian  coast,  where, 
on  the  lofty  and  verti(;al  ditfs  of  the  eastern  side  (250  feet  high),  these 
birds  breed  in  a  state  of  semi-security.  Dr.  Bryant  inadvertently  locates 
this  colony  at  Perce,  or  Arch  Rock,  but  although  this  curious  and 
inaccessible  islet  is  only  a  mile  or  so  distant,  and  the  birds  breeding  on 
its  summit  are  perlectly  safe,  not  a  single  Gaunet  is  to  be  found  among 
them. 

Here,  too,  the  number  of  Gannets  has  greatly  diminished,  and  when 
later  on  we  visited  Bonaventure  Captain  Collins  expressed  surprise  at 
the  marked  decrease  in  their  numbers.  That  this  colony  ever  compared 
in  extent  with  that  at  the  Bird  Rock  is  very  doubtful,  although  Dr. 
Bryant  states  that  it  is  ''  perhaps  even  more  remarkable." 

A  few  Gannets  were  found  at  Perroquet  Island  of  the  Mingan  group, 
in  spite  of  the  incessant  persecution  of  the  Indians  who  regularly  make 
a  clean  sweep  there.  In  1860  Dr.  Bryant  predicted  that  the  locality 
would  soon  be  deserted,  but  in  1881  Mr.  Brewster  found  several  hun- 
dred  birds  stdl  there,  although  shortly  after  his  visit  the  Indians  took 
every  egg. 

No  Gannets  were  seen,  east  of  Mingan,  and  none  on  the  eastern  coast 
of  Newfoundland,  although  in  the  time  of  Cartier  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  colony  of  these  birds  on  Funk  Island,  where,  if  one  may  credit 
the  testimony  of  fishermen,  they  were  still  breeding  thirty  years  ago. 

The  same  decrease  of  Gannets  seems  to  be  taking  place  elsewhere, 
and  Professor  Newton  tells  me  that  at  Lundy  Island  in  the  Bristol  Chau- 


liiiijui.jin.^jri's 


504 


REPORT   OP    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,  1888. 


uel,  the  only  Hritish  locality  wbeie  this  biitl  is  fomid,  tlu'ie  were  in  1887 
but  a  dozen  pairs  left. 

The  decrease  of  (iraiinets  at  the  IJird  Rocks  is  tlie  most  perceptible 
owinj;  to  their  size,  but  the  smaller  binls  have  doubtless  suttered  in  the 
same  proportion.  Scarce  a  day  passes  during  tine  weather  without  a 
visit  from  fishermen  •  in  search  of  eggs  or  Murres,  these  latter  being 
used  for  food  and  making  a  not  unpalatable  stew. 

Many  barrels  of  eggs  are  gathered  during  the  season,  and  altogether 
the  birds  lead  rather  a  precarious  existence.  Still  a  large  portion  of 
the  Great  Uock  is  practically  inaccessible,  and  unless  the  feather  hunt- 
ers attiict  this  interesting  spot  with  their  presence  the  birds  may  con- 
tinue to  breed  here  in  diminished  numbers  for  long  years  to  come. 

The  extermination  of  birds  is  largely  a  question  of  sentiment,  but 
these  sea-fowl  exist  in  such  luimbers  that  they  play  a  not  unimportant 
l)art  in  supplying  food  to  the  residents  of  the  gulf  and  coast  of  Labrador, 
and  hence  their  extir[)atiou  is  to  be  doubly  deplored. 

There  is  a  law  regulating  t  he  taking  of  c  ^s,  and  if  this  were  observed, 
or  could  be  strictly  enforced,  a  large  number  of  eggs  could  be  gathered 
annually  wiiile  at  the  same  time  the  number  of  birds  would  steadily  in- 
crease. But  in  a  region  so  thinly  peopled  as  the  coasts  of  Labrador 
and  the  gulf,  game  laws  are  diflicult  to  enforce  and  each  i)arty  of  fisher- 
men acts  on  the  principle  that  it  is  useless  to  leave  what  the  next  visitor 
will  be  sure  to  take. 

Mr.  Turbid,  however,  who  has  resided  on  the  Great  Rock  as  light- 
keeper  since  1880,  states  that  latterly  the  birds  are  on  the  increase  and 
that  in  the  last  eight  years  the  Murres  have  doubled  in  numbers,  the 
Ganuets  increased  one-third,  and  the  other  birds  from  one  quarter  to 
one-third.  Mr.  Turbid  also  told  us  that  the  Murres  were  becoming  used 
to  the  fog-gun,  which  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Brewster's  visit  was,  indirectly, 
a  source  of  great  destruction. 

At  each  discharge  the  frightened  Mnrres  fly  from  the  rock  in  cloiida,  nearly  every 
setting  bird  taking  its  egg  into  the  air  between  its  thighs  and  dropping  it  after  fly- 
ing a  few  yards.  This  was  repeatedly  observed  during  our  visit,  aud  more  than  once 
a  perfect  shower  of  eggs  fell  into  the  water  around  our  boat.  So  seriously  had  the 
Murres  suffered  from  this  cause  that  many  of  the  ledges  ou  the  side  of  the  rock  where 
the  gun  was  fired  had  been  swept  aim  ost  clear  of  eggs.! 

It  was  the  intention  to  have  visited  the  Cape  la  Hune  Penguin  Islands, 
but  rough  weather  made  this  impracticable,  and  from  the  Bird  Rocks 
the  Orampiis  went  direct  to  St.  John's,  Newfoundland.  Here  we  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  the  Rev.  M.  Harvey,  who  most  kindly  gave  us 
all  the  aid  in  his  power,  aud  here  Capt.  Duncan  Baxter  joined  fhe  ves- 
sel as  Newfoundland  pilot,  although  he  also  rendered  most  eflQcient  aid 
as  a  collector. 

*  Wo  found  a  party  on  the  Little  Rock  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  aud  later  in  the  day 
another  boat's  crew  landed  on  the  westerly  beach  of  tiie  Great  Rock. 
tBrewster,  Proc.  Best.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  Vol.  xxii,  p.  410. 


EXPLANATION    OF    PLATE    LXXI. 

Sketch  Map  of  Funk  Island. 

Outline  from  British  Admiralty  Chart;  details  by  F.  A.  Lucas;  elevations  by 
Capt.  J.  W.  Collins. 

The  shaded  portion  indicates  the  location  of  remains  of  the  Great  Auk;  intensity 
of  shade  denoting  corresponding  abundance  of  bones. 

To  an  observer  on  the  island,  the  eastern  and  western  points  seem  more  rounded 
than  given  on  the  chart. 


Report  of  National  Muieum,  IB88-Lucii. 


Plate  LXXI. 


svations  by 
:;  intensity 
re  rounded 


o 
z 


z 

3 


^ 
^ 


I 
U 

y- 
ul 

CO 


I 


M 


1^ 


EXPEDITION   TO    PUNK    ISLAND. 


505 


During  our  Htay  at  St.  JoIiii'm  \v^^  uwl  st'vonil  liKlioniiiMi  who  liiwl  vin- 
'\\w\  Funk  iHlaiid  <»ii  C};{,'inK  cxiKMlitioiis,  luit  hcyoml  usrortainiii^  this 
poHitiou  of  t\\vi  Itest  landiii};  little  kiii>\vltMl;;o  was  ^aiiiiMl,  nothing  cou- 
cdiuiuK  tlie  chararti'i-  of  thtiMoil,  or  the  cliauce«  for  ami  apiiimtaeiiuring 
reinaiiiH  of  the  Gn'at  AjjU. 

Ii«avin|f  St.  John's  on  the  iiioniinjj  of  July  121,  we  sailed  northward 
toward  Cape  lionavista,  a  headland  that  Htill  hears  its  ori{;iiial  appel- 
lation, following  almost  exactly  the  tra<!k  pursued  by  (Jartier'«  veHsels 
more  than  three  centuries  ago. 

Daybreak  on  the  morning  of  the  'J2d  found  us  in  sight  of  Funk  Island, 
hot  the  wind  was  so  light  that  not  until  noon  were  wo  uear  enough  for 
a  boat  to  be  lowered  and  a  start  made  for  the  shore. 

But  two  collectors  had  visited  Funk  Island  before  us,  Potor  StuvitJ! 
in  1841  and  Prof.  J.  VV.  Milne  in  1874,  both  of  whom  had  been  compelled 
to  cut  short  their  stay  and  hasten  back  to  their  vessels  on  account  of 
threatening  weather.  Warned  by  their  experience,  it  had  been  decided 
to  take  ashore  in  the  first  boat  a  camping  outfit  and  provisions  for  sev- 
eral days,  so  that  in  the  not  impossible  event  of  a  fog  or  fresh  breeze 
springing  up  we  could  remain  on  the  island  and  proceed  with  work  while 
the  Orainpus  sought  safer  quarters. 

Accordingly  the  dory  set  out  with  a  load  large  enough  and  varied 
enough  to  have  started  a  small  country  store.  Besides  tent  and  tent 
poles,  a  huge  firkin  of  provisions,  and  three  breakers  of  water  there 
were  digging  utensils  of  various  descriptions,  a  gun  and  plenty  of 
ammunition,  buckets,  baskets,  rope,  anchor,  and  a  general  wilderness 
of  rubber  Imots,  coats,  ami  southwesters. 

We  were  not,  however,  compelled  to  avail  ourselves  of  these  elabo- 
rate preparations,  for  the  weather  continued  so  fair  that  at  night  we 
returned  to  the  Orampus,  and  although  after  sunset  the  wind  freshened 
and  next  morning  the  weather  looked  decidedly  threatening,  the  squalls 
passed  over  and  gave  place  to  light  southerly  breezes. 

Viewing  the  island  from  a  distance  it  had  seemed  possible  with  the 
faint  air  then  stirring  to  beach  a  boat  on  the  southerly  slope;  but 
closer  approach  transformed  the  narrow  line  of  foam  and  gently  shelving 
rock  into  the  wash  of  a  heavy  swell  on  a  steep  and  slippery  slope  of 
granite,  whereon  landing  was  quite  out  of  the  question. 
.  The  best  landing  is  at  a  spot  termed  "The  Bench,"  lying  a  hundred 
yards  or  so  to  the  west  of  the  northeastern  or  Escape  Point,  and 
toward  this  portion  of  the  island,  where  from  time  immemorial  man 
had  landed  to  despoil  the  feathered  inhabitants,  we  directed  our  course. 

The  Bench  is  a  narrow  path,  hewn  by  nature  in  the  side  of  a  low, 
almost  vertical  cliff,  leading  at  high  tide  from  the  water's  edge  to  per- 
haps 20  feet  above  it. 

At  the  widest  this  path  is  4  feet  across,  but  from  that  it  tapers 
either  way  to  nothing,  terminating  at  the  upper  end  in  a  fissure  just 
wide  enough  to  accommodate  one's  foot,  the  rough  granite  furnishing  a 
very  good  sabstitate  for  a  hand-rail. 


I' 


v.r 


iii'^'iiir-"r'v"i*>i'*f»i><i 


.'J 


06 


in;i'()irr  ok  national  Mirsr.wM,  ih«h. 


Ilt'low  "lln*  IkmicIi"  tlu'  rm'k  ilrsfriuls  almost  vt'i-lirall.v  to  a  «U*|)tli<)f 
IL'O  I'crt  bctiratli  tli«>  N(>a,  this  I'oinliiiiatioii  ol  (|i>i>|)  water  and  Miiidutli, 
|uM'|M'ii(li<Milai'  rock  ollcriii^r  no  olisiach*  to  rital'c  tln^  nimi  into  ItnsikinK, 
so  that  with  .soiitln'ily  wiixis,  asut  tlic  liint* of  our  visit,  thcNsvcll  nicioly 
rises  an<i  I'alls  alon;;  thr  svall  ol'  lock. 

Willi  northcrlv  wmkIs  this  lanilin;;  of  ■onrsr  is  ini|)i'a(|j<-al>l(>,  an<i 
boats  thcnscek  a  more  pn'caiions  spot  nt'ardannct  I  lead,  on  the  south- 
west, where  Stiivit/  seems  to  have  landed  in  ISM. 

Oniteon  "the  henith  *'  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  reaeli  theHummit  ol' the 
island,  either  by  seramblln;;  directly  n|i  the  I'aee  of  the  rock  or  iiy  an 
easier  but  mor(>,  eircnitoiis  path,  it  patli  it  can  lie  <-allcd,  leading  I'rom 
the  lissiire  in  which  ''  the  liench '' ends. 

VVhihi  th(^  hei;;ht  of  I"'nnk  Island  is  pnt  d<»wn  on  tlu^  chart  it  HI  feet, 
it  certainly  looks  to  be  much  hi^^her,  whether  Heen  trom  the  deck  of  a 
vessel  or  viewed  from  the  eastern  iilnlfs. 

The  eidire  east«'rn  end  of  the  island  is  very  jnec'lpitons,  as  is  also  the 
Houthwestern  extremity,  but  on  tlu^  northwest  and  alonj;  a  lesst-r 
portion  of  the  southern  side  the  rock  slopes  gradually  into  the  sea,  and 
it  was  here  that  the  Cheat  Aidv  scrand)le«l  thron^ih  tlu*  breukerM  to 
meet  its  fate. 

The  jjjreatest  h«nj;th  of  the  island  from  eastnortlieast  to  west-south- 
west  is  about  half  a  mile,  its  breadth  a  ijuarter,  these  <listan<M>s  bein^ 
Het  down  in  the  sailin<;'  diicctions  as  SOO  and  H>0  yards. 

Lyinji'  nispcMttively  (KM)  and  1,L'00  yards  otf  tlu^  western  point  sire  two 
Hmall,  rouiwled  islets,  so  low  that  they  must  be  completely  washed  over 
in  lonj^h  weather,  and  conse(piently  untenable  as  breediii;,'  places. 

Two  faults,  deepened  by  time  into  shallow  valleys,  tlivide  the  islainl 
into  three  ridy:es  runninji'  nearly  east  and  west.  The  northern  aiul 
conti'al  of  these  an^  bare  rock,  for  the  most  part  smoothed  and  rounded 
by  rain  and  ice,  althouj^h  here  and  there  the  decomposition  of  the  fehl- 
s|>ar  has  formed  curious,  overhanyinj;'  ledges,  especially  toward  the 
eastern  end. 

In  these  depressions  are  numerous  pools  of  brackish  water,  the  more 
extensive — intersperseil  with  |)atches  that  may  \h  diyiiilled  by  the 
name  of  marsh — lying  alon^  the  linc^  of  the  southernmost  fault,  which 
ternunates  in  a  small,  natural  amphitheater,  tloored  with  pebbles, 

Growin<f  amidst  these  pebbles  were  patchesof  ablue-tlowerin^' weed, 
around  which  white  buttertiies  [Pieris)  were  sutliciently  numerous  to 
indicate  that  they  were  regular  inhabitants  of  the  island. 

Indian  Gulch,  the  eastern  termination  of  the  northern  fault,  opens 
into  this  amphitheater  from  the  sea  by  a  narrow  cleft,  into  which  the 
swell  rushes  in  a  seething  torrent  of  foam,  emphasizing  the  remark  of 
the  sailing  directions  that  "  at  all  times  the  scend  of  the  sea  would 
make  it  unsafe  for  a  boat  in  such  narrow  waters." 

A  large  portion  of  the  southern  and  most  extensive  swell  of  rock  is 


thi« 
the 
isli* 
Ion 
I 


int< 
cha 
the 
vvm 


* '. 


i 


KXI'KIHTION    TO    FI'NK    IM|,ANI» 


507 


thickly  rovt'iTil  with  vt'p'tiitioii*,  this,  th(^  luniu'r  Incrtliiiy;  yioiiml  of 
llu^  (iK'iit  Aiik,  Ik'Iii;;  in:i|)|M><l  out  in  viviil  ;;ii*'ii  hv  llit>  pl.iiit.s  iimir- 
'\h\wa\  l»,v  th('«l«M-uiii|H)Sf4l  hodii's  aiiul  MU)\vly  ih'coiiipdsiii^  bones  of  tlie 
hni^  «>xtint*l  l>iril. 

It  wonhl  Mcnn  thiit  tin*  Ank  lnhiil»it«Ml  incry  iu'<M>HHil»h'  toot  of  ^jronn*!, 
th«'  iniiltility  ol  tlii>  liiid  to  ll\  irstrictiii;;  it  of  iiccrssitx  to  such  |>ot'tions 
of  tliti  island  as  i'oiihl  he  K'iichnl  aftrr  ii  landii:;;  li:iti  Itccn  4>n('<-t('<l  on 
I  hit  nortlii'i'ly  or  soiillu'ily  slopr. 

Any  abrupt  iImii  of  smooth  rork,  aItlion;;h  «'onipanitiv«ly  low,  wonhl 
interpose  an  insniinonntaltlr  barrier  to  farther  pi'o<;ress,  and  from  the 
(character  of  the  rock  ami  total  al)s«>n<'e  of  bones,  it  does  not  seem  that 
tln^  Ank  4>ver  passed  lu'vond  the  sonthernmust  line  of  fanit,  or  even 
reached  th«^  eastern  |>art  of  tlu^  island. 

Ilen^  tln^  Ank  br(>d  in  peace!  lor  a^es,  nndistnrbed  by  imiii  t  nntil 
that  fatefid  day  in  .Inne,  l."»;M,  when  (!artier's  crews  iinmjjn rated  the 
8lan};hter  that  termimited  only  with  the  existence  of  the  (In'at  Aidi. 

ileie  to  day  the  bones  of  myriads  of  (ia;'ufo\vl  lie  buried  in  the  shallow 
soil  formed  above  their  molder«Ml  bodie.«,  and  here,  in  this  vast  Ah-iiu^ 
cemetery,  are  thickly  st-attered  slabs  of  weathered  j;ranite,  like  so  many 
crnniMin;;  tond»stones  nmrkin^;  the  resting;  phuies  of  thotleparted  Anks. 

It  in  rather  carious  that  these  blo(dvHof'st(nH^  shonld  Ixi  fonml  on  this 
part  of  the  island,  Jnst  where  they  wonid  be  most  needed  by  nuin,  bnt 
for  some  reason  the  rot  k  seems  to  w«>ather  into  slabs  more  on  the 
southern  rise  than  elsewlicre.  it  is  also  an  interestinj;"  coiiu'idonce,  to 
siiiy  the  least,  that  l{«d)ert  Ilore  ami  another  of  the  old  navi«;ators 
speak  of  Penjjnin  Islaml  as  "  Viuy  full  of  rocks  and  stones,"  althon^di 
their  ac(u)nnts  seem  to  refer  to  Capt!  la  Ilnne,  IVnjfuin  Islands,  rather 
than  to  Fniik  Island. 


Tho  followiiiif  i»liiiit8  liavt!  l>oiMi  recorded  from  Funk  iHland. 


•  I'oa  (iniiiia  L.     L'oimnon  in  wot  |tlii('CH. 

•  (llin'cria   viurithna  Wiilil.     ('oiiimoii    in 

\V*'t  llllK't'H. 

•  Senecia   vulijarit    L.     Coiiiiuoii    iu    wet 

plilCOH. 

t  I'lantatjo  maritima.     Aloii^  pouda. 

•  lianutKulKH  hjipirhorcuii  Rotlb. 

•  Stellaria  media. 


*  Cocliliaria  offiri)inHn  T..     Among  pobliloH 

at  lioiid  of  Indian  (inluli. 
t  CoelileiiriafiinKtrdlii. 
'  Cii}opUurnm  iinnUiil  Led. 
t  tlaloHclaa  Hniticiiiii. 
t  liumex. 
*Clifiio})odUnii  albiiin  t 

*  liynum  kuinrlloiii ;  h|).  iiov. 


Tiiose  preceded  l»y  an  aHterisk  (*)  were  collected  by  Mr.  William  Palmer,  aud  those 
preceded  by  the  dagger  (t)  were  noted  by  ProfcHHor  Milne. 

It  is  a  little  eurions  that  but  a  Hinjjlo  specicH  was  observed  by  Itoth  natnralistH,  the 
more  that  Professor  Milne  was  on  the  islaml  but  half  an  honr  and  Mr.  Pahner  i)art8 
of  two  days. 

t  A  paddle  aud  remains  of  canoes  are  said  to  have  been  found  here,  as  well  as  stone 
arrow  heads,  and  this  would  indicate  visits  from  tiie  Indians.  Profeswor  Milne  con- 
siders this  doubtful,  owing  to  tho  imlil't'erentseagoing(|ualitiesof  tin;  IJeothuc  canoes. 
There  seems,  too,  no  reason  why  they  should  incur  the  risk  of  visiting  this  island  so 
far  at  sea  when  plenty  of  sea  fowl  could  be  obtained  nearer  home.  Still,  if  the  renmius 
actually  were  fouaii,  they  could  scarcely  have  «oiue  here  by  accideut. 


v.\l 


008 


REPORT   OP   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,  1888. 


On  the  summit  of  the  island,  and  not  far  from  ilio  center,  are  the 
ruins  of  a  stone  hut,  built  of  tlie  al)nnd;iiit  slabs,  and  visible  for  a  con- 
8i(UM'able  distance.  This  hut  is  said  by  Professor  Milne  to  have  been 
the  residen(!e  of  the  i)arty  who  resided  on  the  island  for  a  short  time  in 
18(i;5  for  the  piirjjose  of  i)rocnring  guano.  But  according-  to  another  ac- 
count it  was  built  for  the  accommodation  of  a  sealing  crew  who,  some 
years  ago,  was  placicd  on  the  island  to  pass  the  winter  and  obtain  the 
first  chance  at  the  seals  vho  come  down  on  the  floe-ice  in  the  spring. 
The  entire  crew,  with  the  exception  of  the  cook,  were  lost  while  out 
sealing,  an«l  the  sole  survivor  rescued  in  an  almost  insane  condition. 

The  strongest  point  in  fiivor  of  the  more  poetic  version  is  found  in 
the  fact  that  the  guano  party  were  on  the  island  but  a  few  days  in  sum- 
mer, and  they  would  s(!arcely  have  taken  the  trouble  to  build  so  sub- 
stantial a  dwelling. 

Jn  18G3*  Mr.  Thomas  N.  Molloy,  now  United  States  consul  at  St. 
John's,  fitted  out  the  expedition  to  seek  for  guano  at  Funk  Island,  Cap- 
tains Burke  and  Glyndon  being  at  the  head  of  the  enterprise.  They 
landed  on  the  island,  taking  with  them  a  large  skifi",  while  their  schooner 
returned  to  the  harbor  of  Seldom  Come  By,  Fogo  Island. 

In  all  35  tons  of  guano  were  secured,  four  laborers  obtaining  20  tons 
in  Un  days.  Five  tons  were  sold  n*  unction  in  St.  John's  for  $19  per 
ton  and  the  remainder  consigned  to  u  Boston  house,  by  whom  it  was  in 
turn  sent  to  Baltimore  and  Washington. 

Just  where  the  guano  came  from  itis  difficult  to  say,  for  there  is  now  no 
trace  of  it  'M1  Funk  Island,  except  in  the  shape  of  a  strong  smell  on  the 
bare  rocks  of  the  eastern  part,  resorted  to  by  Murres  and  Kazorbills. 

The  climate  is  not  favorable  to  the  formation  of  guano  deposits,  such 
as  are  found  in  dry  tropical  regions,  and  on  Funk  Island  the  rain  must 
long  age  have  washed  out  the  soluble  constituents  of  the  old  "  soil "  of 
that  part  of  the  island  formerly  inhabited  bj^  the  Great  Auk. 

The  soil  consists  of  two  distinct  layers,  the  lower  portion,  formed 
during  the  occupancy  of  the  Auk,  being  from  3  inches  to  1  foot  in  thick- 
ness and  consisting  largely  of  fragments  of  egg  shells,  although  next  to 
bed  rock  are  numerous  angular  pebbles  of  various  sizes. 

The  black  dust  from  the  decayed,  overlying  vegetation  and  abundant 
patches  of  charcoal  has  filtered  into  the  lower  stratum,  but  so  numerous 
are  the  fragments  of  egg-shells  that  the  deposit  has  a  yellowish  gray 
color. 

The  upper  layer  of  soil,  also  from  3  inches  to  1  foot  thick,  has  formed 
since  the  extermination  of  the  Auk,  principally  by  the  growth  and 
decay  of  vegetation  nourished  by  their  bodies. 

In  fact  it  is  possible,  from  the  character  of  the  plant  growth  above, 
to  tell  something  of  the  probable  abundance  of  Auk  remains  below; 
thickness  of  the  one  indicating  corresponding  plenty  of  the  other. 


*  Mr.  Molloy  gave  the  date  as  1866,  but  as  the  "  luutumies  "  were  certainly  obtaiued 
in  1863,  this  may  have  beeu  a  slip  of  the  pen. 


EXPEDITION    TO    FUNK    ISLAND. 


509 


So  little  could  be  ascertained  regarding  tlie  soil  of  Funk  Island,  that 
we  came  provided  even  with  a  pickaxe,  while  we  were  told  that  we 
might  be  compelled  to  dig  through  several  feet  of  turf  in  order  to  reach 
the  bones  of  the  Garefowl.  The  most  thoroughly  usetul  tools  proved 
to  be  two  clam  hoes,  with  which  rapid  progress  could  be  made  through 
the  matted  roots  and  scanty  soil. 

Peter  Stuvitz,  who  visited  Funk  Island  in  1844,  wrote  that — 

On  the  southwestern  side  a  little  vegetation  is  foixnd  and  snllicient  soil  to  support 
an  extremely  scanty  flora;  but  it  is  there  that  I  discovered  remains  of  bones  in  great 
number,  and  it|is  probable  that  the  thin  layer  of  vegetable  mould  which  is  met  with- 
in that  locality  is  duo  to  the  destruction  of  the  animals  to  which  they  belonged. 

The  skeletons  lie  in  a  compact  mass  in  the  earth,  and  according  to  the  depth  at 
which  they  are  found  one  can  estimate  the  time  necessary  for  the  formation  of  the 
layer  of  mold  above  them.  Moreover,  this  layer  of  earth  was  usually  very  thin, 
and  in  places  the  bones  wore  not  covered  at  all. 

During  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years  the  thickness  of  the  layer  of  earth  formed  is 
consequently  not  appreciable,  for  a  slaughter  of  these  birds  sufficiently  extensive  for 
the  accumulation  of  such  heaps  of  bones  must  antedate  that  epoch. 

On  this  side  are  found  the  stone  inclosures  called  pounds,  in  which  the  hunters  coii 
cealed  themselves  to  slay  the  birds.* 

This  description  is  very  accurate  and  is  as  true  to-day  as  when  it  wa 
written,  except  that  the  layer  of  soil  is  thicker,  and  vegetation  mor 
abundant.  Two  of  the  pounds  near  the  western  landing  place,  whosi 
position  is  indicated  on  the  accompanying  map,  still  remain  untouched 
and  although  the  stones  lie  prostrate,  not  one  is  wanting.  Remains  o 
other  pounds,  more  or  less  overgrown  by  weeds,  are  to  be  seen  here  aiu 
there  along  the  central  ridge  of  the  island,  and  hard  by  the  ruins  of  tin 
hut  recently  mentioned  are  the  traces  of  two  other  small  structures  partlj 
hidden  by  the  vegetation. 

(Joncerning  these  there  seems  to  be  no  tradition,  but  it  is  not  at  al 
improbable  that  they  were  the  dwellings  of  the  old-time  destroyers  o 
the  Auk,  for  there  is  no  reason  why  parties  should  not  have  passed  tin 
entire  breeding  season  on  the  island  in  order  to  prosecute  their  wori 
without  interruption,  and  Oartwright  says  that  this  was  done. 

By  placing  the  huts  along  the  crest  of  the  island  they  would  be  frei 
from  surface  drainage  during  rains,  while  the  "compounds"  would  nat 
urally  be  located  near  the  huts  for  convenience,  and  away  from  tbi 
water  to  avoid  unnecessary  fright  to  the  landing  birds. 

The  most  abundant  deposits  of  bones  are  found  in  the  vicinity  of  tb 
ruined  hut,  partially  in  the  upper  stratum  of  soil,  where  the  bones  ol 
thousands  of  birds  are  mixed  together  in  inextricable  confusion. 

In  the  upper  layer  of  soil,  too,  lie  the  patches  of  charcoal  and  charreri 
fragments  of  bones,  showing  where  the  kettles  once  swung  in  which: 
the  birds  were  parboiled  to  render  plucking  them  an  easy  operation. 

Tradition  says  that  the  bodies  of  the  Great  Auks  were  so  fat  that 


I 


*  This  is  undoubtedly  an  error,  for  all  other  accounts  agree  in  stating  that  the 
pounds  were  used  for  couliuing  the  birds  until  they  should  be  needed. 


510 


RKPOHT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,  1HH8. 


they  could  be  used  for  fuel,  and  while  this  seems?  a  little  doubtfal  it 
may  yet  be  true,  or  partially  so. 

It  certainly  would  have  been  a  great  convenience  to  the  Auk  exter 
minators  to  be  thus  relieved  of  the  difficulty  of  bringing  tire-wood  from 
the  mainland,  more  than  30  miles  distant. 

Close  by  the  two  best  preserved  pounds  we  upturned  the  sod  over  a 
circle  10  or  12  feet  in  diameter,  beneath  which  was  a  compact  hiyer  of 
charcoal  and  bones,  while  not  far  away  another  excavation  told  as 
plainly  as  words  that  here  was  one  of  the  last  abiding  places  of  ihe 
Auk. 

Barely  2  inches  of  turf  covered  the  shallow  soil  in  which  lay  embedded 
a  few  fresh-looking  bones  of  the  Great  Auk,  mixed  with  others  of  its 
lesser  relative,  the  Murre.  Evidently  at  the  time  of  tiiis  deposit  the 
Great  Auk  was  on  the  wane  and  its  numbers  were  no  longer  sufficient 
to  meet  the  demands  of  the  feather  hunt'Ts,  who  promptly  supplied 
the  deticiency  with  those  of  the  bird  most  easily  secured. 

The  Great  Auk,  by  the  way,  is  not  the  only  bird  which  has  been  ex- 
tirpated on  Funk  Island,  for  the  Gannet  lives  in  name  ah)ne,  although 
Cartier  found  it  abundant,  and  men  still  living  remember  to  liave  seen 
the  bird.  Thanks  to  the  efforts  of  the  eggers,  the  numbers  of  birds  of 
all  species,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  Puffins,  have  been  greatly 
lessened  during  the  past  twenty-five  years. 

Stuvitz  in  1844  called  Funk  Island  "  a  mountain  of  birds,"  and  was 
above  all  surprised  at  the  abundance  of  the  Arctic  and  Common  Tern, 
while  in  1874  Professor  Milne  wrote  that  "  although  it  was  the  20th  of 
July,  we  were  almost  everywhere  in  danger  of  placing  our  feet  upon 
eggs." 

We  found  the  Arctic  Terns  still  very  numerous,  and  the  shrill  cries 
of  the  large  flock  that  circled  round  our  heads  were  so  loud  and  in- 
cessant as  to  be  positively  annoying. 

Their  young,  and  eggs  in  an  advanced  stage  of  incubation  were  scat- 
tered here  nnd  tliere  from  one  end  of  the  island  to  the  other,  but  not  a 
single  specimen  of  the  Common  Tern  was  noticed. 

The  number  of  Murresand  Razor-bills  was  comparatively  insignificant, 
and  the  few  eggs  of  these  species  that  were  seen  were  placed  in  the  most 
secluded  spots  attainable. 

The  Kazor-bill  in  particular  seems  to  be  learning  wisdom  by  bitter  ex- 
perience, and,  as  we  first  noticed  at  the  Bird  Rocks,  hides  its  egg  when- 
ever practicable  in  some  nook  or  cranny,  or  under  an  overhanging  ledge 
whore  it  will  be  safe  from  all  intruders. 

The  Puffins,  however,  who  find  security  in  their  burrows,  exist  in 
great  numbers,  and  to  them,  at  least,  the  extermination  of  the  Great 
Auk  has  proved  a  decided  advantage  by  providing  soil  in  which  to  dig 
their  habitations. 

The  entran(;e  to  each  burrow  is  surrounded  by  small  collections  of 
Great  Auk  bones  which  these  little  resurrectionists  have  brought  to 


of 
to 


EXPEDITION    ro    FUNK    ISLAND. 


511 


light,  and  the  intenningled  condition  of  the  buried  remains  is  in  !io 
small  degree  due  to  the  labors  of  the  busy  Putlins. 

During  the  day,  perching  upon  the  ruins  of  the  hut,  or  standing  on 
the  blocks  of  granite,  they  watched  our  labors  with  mingled  interest 
and  suspicion,  while  towards  sunset,  returning  from  distant  fishing  ex- 
])editions  they  gathered  along  the  blutfs  in  battalions,  Hanked  by  com- 
panies of  Murres  and  Razor-bills. 

The  PufQus  were  the  first  to  assure  us  of  the  success  of  the  expedition, 
for  the  many  specimens  of  the  unmistakable  humerus  of  the  Great  Auk 
contained  in  their  little  osteological  collections  were  certain  evidence 
of  the  quantities  of  bones  that  lay  beneath  the  soil.  The  modus  oper- 
andi in  digging  was  to  skim  oft"  the  superficial  layer  of  turf  and  with  a 
few  strokes  of  the  hoe  bring  up  some  samples  of  bones.  If,  on  inspec- 
tion, the  quality  of  the  bones  was  found  to  be  good,  careful  excavation 
with  hoe  and  lingers  followed,  but  if,  as  often  happened,  the  exhumed 
bones  were  brown  and  weatherworn,  another  spot  was  tried  at  once. 

Quantity  was  a  secondary  consideration,  for  where  the  remains  were 
most  abundant  they  were  usually  in  a  poor  state  of  preservation,  the 
more  scattered  specimens  being  the  best. 

On  the  northerly  slope  a  stroke  of  the  h(,e  made  anywhere  would 
bring  to  light  at  least  a  score  of  bones,  but  on  the  west,  and  more  espe- 
cially on  the  south,  the  deposits  rapidly  thinned  out,  although  no  spot 
was  tried  where  Auk  bones  were  not  found,  and  it  is  no  exaggeration 
to  say  that  millions  of  Garefowl  gave  up  their  lives  on  these  few  acres 
of  barren  rock. 

Professor  Milne  seems  to  have  had  some  doubt  of  all  the  bones  he 
discovered  being  those  of  the  Great  Auk,  for  he  remarks  :  "  at  nearly 
every  trial  bones  were  found,  but  there  was  nothing  that  could  be 
identified    s  ever  having  belonged  to  the  bird  for  which  I  searched." 

For  the  benefit  of  future  visitors  to  Fuidi  Island  it  may  be  said  that 
bones,  other  than  those  of  the  Great  Auk,  are  of  very  rare  occurrence, 
so  much  so  that  two  barrels  of  earth  and  bones,  gathered  haphazard,  con- 
tained less  than  a  handful  belonging  to  any  other  bird. 

Contrary  to  what  might  be  supposed  the  more  recent  bones  are  in  the 
worst  state  of  preservation,  for  owing  to  their  protection  from  the  sun 
and  the  fact  that  they  are  kept  damp  for  the  greater  part  of  the  time, 
those  found  in  the  lower  stratum  ot  soil  are  in  much  better  condition 
than  those  nearer  the  surface. 

The  majority  of  the  bones  are  weatherworn,  others  are  stained  but 
perfect,  while  now  and  then  a  bone  may  be  found  looking  as  fresh  and 
white  as  if  the  bird  to  which  it  belonged  had  been  killed  but  a  year  or 
so  ago. 

Some  of  the  best  preserved  bones  lay  at  the  entrance  of  Puffin  bur- 
rows and  had  evidently  been  brought  to  light  in  the  course  of  their 
spring  house-cleaning,  but  it  proved  a  futile  task  to  follow  the  course 
of  the  hole  iu  the  hope  of  finding  others  equally  good. 


U 


I' 


512 


KEPOKT   OP   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,  1888. 


The  skull  usually  breaks  across  at  the  articulation  of  the  nasals  with 
the  froutals  and  mauy  a  time  did  we  work  carefully  around  the  point 
of  some  projecting  beak  only  to  find  that  the  back  of  the  skull  was  en- 
tirely lacking.  The  sternum  and  pelvis  are  very  rarely  found  in  good 
condition,  the  thinness  of  these  bones,  and  their  immediate  contact 
with  the  viscera  having  caused  their  rapid  decay  so  thiit  although  we 
disinterred  hundreds  we  suceeded  in  obtaining  but  a  single  perfect 
specimen  of  each. 

It  would  seem  that  these  alcine  remains  are  rapidly  deteriorating, 
although  so  few  visits  have  been  made  to  Funk  Island  with  the  view 
of  procuring  bones  that  it  is  diflicult  to  make  comparisons,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  element  ot  luck  must,  to  a  large  extent,  enter  into  the 
finding  of  buried  bones. 

In  1863  three  "  mummies,"  or  dried  bodies  of  Great  Auks,  were  se- 
cured by  the  party  in  search  of  guano,  and  in  1874  Professor  Milne  ob- 
tained in  half  an  hour  bones  representing  fifty  individuals,  from  which 
four  more  or  less  complete  skeletons  were  constructed. 

In  1887  our  party  passed  portions  of  two  busy  days  in  exhuming 
thousands  of  bones,  and  yet  this  great  number  will  "  make  up  "  not 
more  than  a  dozen  skeletons,  and  these  not  absolutely  perfect,  while 
no  entire  specimen  was  found,  although  in  the  hope  of  coming  upon 
a  "  mummy  "  holes  were  dug  in  many  places  quite  to  the  bed  rock. 
Neither  did  we  secure  more  than  a  single  membranous  lining  of  the 
egg  of  the  Great  Auk,  although  Professor  Milne  in  less  than  half  an 
hour  found  "  the  inner  linings  of  a  few  eggs." 

The  mixed  condition  of  the  remains  has  already  been  alluded  to,  and 
so  completely  are  the  bones  intermingled,  that  after  many  endeavors  to 
obtain  those  of  a  single  individual,  the  attempt  was  abandoned  in 
despair,  heads  and  feet,  sterna  and  pelves  being  intimately  associated 
with  one  another,  and  not  more  than  six,  or  at  the  most  eight,  consecu- 
tive vertebraB  being  found  together. 

An  idea  of  the  great  abundance  of  bones  may  be  gathered  from  the 
fact  that  while  many  humeri  were  thrown  aside  while  digging  the  col- 
lection was  found  to  contain  over  fourteen  hundred  specimens  of  this 
bone. 

Every  part  of  the  skeleton  was  secured,  including  even  the  small 
ethmo  turbinals,  although  in  spite  of  careful  search  but  one  or  two  of 
the  first  rib  and  third  phalanx  of  the  wing  were  found. 

'The  number  of  bones  from  young  birds  is  extremely  small,  but  this 
all  but  total  lack  of  them  is  readily  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  after 
the  merciless  slaughter  of  the  Auks  had  fairly  commenced,  few,  if  any, 
eggs  were  allowed  to  hatch. 

There  was  a  small  number  of  diseased  bones  present,  the  result  of  in- 
juries, and  one  of  these,  a  broken  and  re-united  ulna,  had  apparently 
been  shattered  by  a  shot.  Comparatively  few  of  the  crania  show  any 
evidence  of  their  original  owner  having  met  with  a  violent  death,  but 


•      • 


*  * 


I 


sals  with 
he  point 
1  was  en- 
iu  good 
)  contact 
lOugU  we 
B  perfect 

'iorating, 

the  view 

lileatthe 

into  the 

,  were  se- 
Milne  ob- 
om  which 

ixhuming 
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ect,  while 
ling  upon 
bed  rock. 
Qg  of  the 
m  half  an 

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ult  of  in- 
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show  any 
eath,  but 


EXPEDITION    TO    FUNK    ISLAND. 


513 


this  is  largely  due  to  tiie  selection  of  tlio  best  specimens  that  offered  ; 
any  that  were  obviously  poor  being  passed  by. 

Professor  Milne  lomaiks  that  "  the  fact  that  there  remains  no  evi- 
dence of  cuts  or  blows  leads  to  the  supposition  that  these  birds  may 
have  died  peacefnlly  "  l)ut  some  of  the  crania  do  show  the  marks  of  cuts 
and  blows,  and,  moreover,  tiiere  is  plenty  of  local  history  or  tradition 
to  show  exactly  how  these  birds  \v(>i'e  done  to  the  death. 

It  should  also  be  home  in  mind  that  birds  seldom  die  peacefully,  for 
nature  rarely  accords  this  boon  to  iier  subjects,  and  when  they  do  meet 
their  end,  they  seem  to  have  a  habit  of  making  away  with  their  skele 
tons:  it  wonld  be  more  accurate  to  say  have  their  skeletons  made 
away  with,  for  dead  birds  do  not  often  go  to  waste,  but  us"  '-y  find 
their  way  into  the  stomach  of  some  hungry  animal,  possil  l;  of  the 
same  race. 

Dr.  Stejneger  tells  me  that  during  his  stay  at  the  Commander  Islands 
many  sea  birds  were  washed  ashore  during  or  after  gales,  bnt  unless 
one  was  on  the  beach  before  daylight  the  bodies  were  destroyed  by  foxes. 
Even  in  the  immense  guano  deposits  of  the  Chincha  Islands,  where 
every  circumstance  is  favorable  to  the  preservation  of  inhumed  speci- 
mens, bird  remains  are  of  comparatively  rare  occurrence,  while  in  lo- 
calities where  the  climate  is  subject  to  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  rain 
and  sunshine,  they  go  to  p'eces  rapidly. 

It  was  not  without  regret  that  we  prepared  to  leave  so  intciesting  a 
spot  as  Funk  Island,  but  having  successfully  accomplished  our  mission 
of  collecting  bones  of  the  Great  Auk,  no  good  reason  remained  for  a 
longer  stay  when  many  miles  of  our  i)roposed  route  yet  remained  to  be 
traversed.  Accordingly  we  gathered  up  our  various  impedimenta,  the 
boat  was  brought  alongside  "the  bench  "for  the  last  time,  and  laden 
with  the  spoils  of  our  two  days'  labor  we  returned  to  the  Grmnpus,  which 
hiy  at  anchor  a  mile  to  the  eastward  of  Escape  Point. 

Fortune  continued  to  smile  on  us,  and  as  the  threatening  weather  of 
the  morning  had  given  way  to  calm,  so  now  that  we  were  ready  to  leave 
a  fair  breeze  sprang  up  that  carried  us  rapidly  toward  the  mainland. 

Funk  Island  grew  lower  and  lower  in  tiie  distance,  and  as  the  sun  was 
nearing  the  western  horizon  we  bade  the  home  of  the  Great  Auk  a  long 
farewell. 

It  was  the  intction  to  visit,  if  possible,  any  localities  whose  names 
indicated  that  the  Great  Auk  might  once  have  been  found  there,  espe- 
cially Penguin  Islands  on  the  south  coast,  and  Penguin  Islands  near 
(Jape  Freels.  A  brisk  south  wester  drove  us  by  the  former  place  at  a 
very  lively  pace,  while  with  the  visit  to  Funk  Island  still  in  prospect,  it 
was  not  deemed  advisable  to  lose  any  time  in  waiting  for  the  wind  and 
sea  to  go  down,  so  this  portion  of  the  trip  was  abandoned. 

On  the  eastern  coast,  however,  the  weather  was  more  favorable ;  so 
after  leaving  Funk  Island,  tlie  Grampus  ran  over  to  the  well-named 
harbor  of  Seldom  Come  By,  and  the  next  morning  started  for  Penguin 
H.  Mis.  142,  i)t.  2 33 


514 


REPORT   OP   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,  1888. 


Islands,  which  lie  about  .'5  miles  from  shore  ano   10  milos  northwest  of 
Cape  Frecls. 

Passiii}^  Peckford  Ueef,  the  S(!li()olmarm,  and  Scrub  Kocks  (nature  is 
very  liberal  with  rocks  and  reefs  in  this  part  of  the  world),  the  Orampus 
anchored  at  noon  off  two  low,  j^rassy  islets,  whose  appearance  was  not 
at  all  suggestive  of  an  Alcine  breeding  place.  Nor  did  careful  exami- 
nation reveal  any  traces  of  former  habitation  by  the  Great  Auk,  and 
if  the  bird  once  dwelt  here,  he  left  nothing  behind  to  indicate  the  fact, 
for  not  a  bone,  nor  even  a  speck  of  eggshell  could  be  found. 

This  is  in  marked  contrast  with  the  condition  of  affairs  at  Funk  Is- 
land, where,  aside  from  tlie  bones  that  the  upturned  sod  shows  every- 
where present,  the  soil  itself,  thickly  sprinkled  with  crumbled  egg 
shells,  bears  mute  testimony  to  long  years  of  occupancy  by  the  Great 
Auk. 

Still  one  of  these  islets  may  be  that  certain  flat  island  where  Captain 
Richard  Whitbourne  tells  us  men  "  drave  the  Penguins  on  a  board  into 
their  boats  by  hundreds  at  a  time,"  although  it  must  be  said  that  this 
and  similar  stories  have  rather  an  apochryphal  ring  to  them.  Certainly 
so  easy  a  method  of  loading  a  boat  w  ith  Garefowl,  as  that  of  putting  out 
a  gang  plank  and  driving  them  aboard  like  sheep,  was  not  of  common 
occurrence  at  Funk  Island,  where  the  slope  of  the  rock  and  wash  of  the 
sea  would  render  such  a  thing  impossible. 

Although  at  the  time  of  our  visit  it  was  remarkably  calm,  yet  the  boat 
rose  and  fell  along  the  cliff  4  or  5  feet  at  every  heave  of  the  swell,  while 
on  the  sloping  rock,  even  to  leeward,  the  sea  came  rolling  in  in  a  man- 
ner fit  to  test  the  seaworthiness  of  a  Great  Auk,  to  say  nothing  of  a 
small  boat. 

Whoever  may  have  been  the  former  residents  of  Penguin  Islands,  to- 
day their  most  numerous  inhabitants  are  field  mice  (Arvicola  riparia), 
which,  if  one  may  judge  by  the  abundance  of  their  burrows,  exist  in 
almost  incredible  numbers,  while  well  worn  connecting  paths  cover  the 
ground  in  places  with  a  veritable  network. 

A  little  investigation  showed  that  many  of  the  deserted  burrows, 
possibly  some  recent  ones  also,  had  been  taken  possession  of  by  breed- 
ing petrels  (Occawo^roma  leucorrhoa)  which  were  thus  saved  the  trouble 
of  digging  ttieir  own  nesting  places. 

A  few  PuflBus  (Fratereula  aretica)  are  also  found  on  the  island,  but 
they  seemed  to  have  been  no  more  successful  than  ourselves  in  finding 
bones,  for  none  lay  scattered  about  the  entrance  to  their  holes. 

Taking  into  consideration  the  general  character  of  the  islets,  the 
thickness  of  the  turf  that  covers  them,  their  nearness  to  shore  and  the 
absence  of  remains  of  the  Great  Auk,  it  seems  at  least  doubtful  if  the 
bird  ever  dwelt  here,  although  the  absence  of  remains  is,  it  must  be 
said,  negative  evidence  of  but  small  value. 

If  the  Great  Auk  once  bred  in  this  vicinity,  Offer  Wadham,  9  miles 
farther  seaward,  is  much  more  likely  to  have  been  its  habitat,  but  it 
may  be  questioned  if  the  bird  was  found  there  in  historic  times. 


tf         % 


EXPEDITION    TO    FUNK    ISLAND. 


516 


There  can  be  littU^  doubt  tlisit  tlie  extent  of  tlie  breeding  range  of  the 
Great  Auk  has  been  as  a  rule  much  overestimated,  and  the  writer's 
own  bebef  is  that,  like  the  (lamiet,  the  (Jarefowl  was  eontined  to  a  very 
few  h)calities.  Tiiis  is  known  to  have  been  the  case  in  Europe,  and, 
whiU^  the  fact  is  more  ilitlicuH  to  i)rove  in  regard  to  America,  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  all  <leHnite  ac^counta  of  the  Great  Auk  in  the 
New  World  point  to,  at  the  most,  three  or  four  localities,  although  dur- 
ing its  migrations  the  bird  occurred  along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  New- 
foundland to  Virginia. 

Had  it  been  otherwise,  and  had  the  Great  Auk,  as  is  so  often  stated, 
bred  at  numerous  localities  along  the  coasts  of  Newfoundland  and  Lab- 
rador, the  bird  in  limited  numbers  would  probably  be  alive  today. 

The  circumstance  that  tlie  bird,  with  suicidal  [lersistence,  resorted  to 
a  few  chosen  breeding  places,  and  that  it  was  there  found  in  great  num- 
bers, rendered  its  destruction  not  only  possible  but  probable,  and  when 
the  white  man  first  set  foot  in  America,  the  extinction  of  the  Great  Auk 
became  merely  a  question  of  time. 

The  only  thing  that  lias  kept  the  Gannet  from  sharing  the  fate  of  the 
Garefowl  is  the  inaccessible  luiture  of  its  nesting  places,  and  even  this 
may  not  save  him  much  longer,  while  the  Kazor-bill  and  Murre,  in  spite 
of  their  wide  range  and  similar  choice  of  steep  clitts  whereon  to  raise 
their  young,  have  sadly  fallen  ott'  in  numbers. 

This  decrease  is  due  to  the  fact  that  ihe  eggs  of  these  birds  are  taken 
at  all  seasons  when  they  are  to  be  had,  and  although  the  law  may  check 
the  practice  it  can  not  put  a  stop  to  it,  so  that  the  sea  fowl  are  gradu- 
ally lessening  in  number.  Still  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  any  of  the 
smaller  Auks  will  suffer  the  fate  of  their  great  relative  whose  flightless- 
ness  foreordained  its  extermination,  and  whose  sole  chance  for  safety 
lay  in  the  choice  of  unknown  or  inaccessible  breeding  grounds. 

B.— Skeletal  Variation  of  the  Great  Auk. 

The  material  collected  by  the  6ryampws  comprised  2  cubic  feet  of  earth 
brought  away  as  nearly  as  possible  undisturbed,  in  order  to  show  the 
bones  in  situ,  a  barrel  of  Auk  remains  gathered  along  the  crest  of  the 
island,  and  nearly  another  barrel  of  select  material,  containing  the  best 
preserved  bones  that  could  be  found. 

The  disposition  so  far  made  of  this  material  is  as  follows :  a  perfect 
skeleton  has  been  placed  in  the  exhibition  series  of  the  U.  S.  National 
Museum,  one  has  been  presented  to  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology, 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  and  another  to  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  New  York.* 

One  specimen,  sent  in  exc  ,nge  to  a  well-known  Loudon  dealer  in 
natural  history  material,  has  lound  its  way  to  the  Museum  of  Science 


^M 


*  It  is  of  coiirae  uuderatood  that  theae  skeletons  are  "  made  up"  from  bones  of  va- 
rious iudividuals. 


ti 


516 


REPORT   OP   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,  1888. 


and  Art,  Etlinburgli,  uiul  another  bafi  been  sent  in  excbange  to  tho 
Australian  Museum,  Sydney,  New  South  Wales.  Two  skeletons  are 
retained  for  tho  reserve  series,  IJ.  S.  National  Museum,  and  three  or 
four  less  complete  can  still  be  made  up  from  tho  bones  remaining;,  while 
there  is  besides  a  large  number  of  individual  bones,  good,  bad,  and 
iudiflFerent,  left  for  study. 

This  wealth  of  material  has  oftered  an  unusual  opportunity  for  the 
study  of  individual  variation,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  following  notes 
may  be  of  some  interest  in  connection  with  that  most  interesting  prob- 
lem. 

Unfortunately  the  conditions  under  which  the  remains  were  found 
limited  all  comparisons  to  individual  bones,  tho  inextricably  mixed 
state  ot  the  skeletons  precluding  all  possibility  of  comparing  them  with 
one  another  in  their  entirety. 

Variations  are  of  degree  or  of  kind,  due  to  modifications  of  develop- 
ment or  of  structure,  and  the  importance  of  any  departure  froni  a  given 
type  depends  very  largely  on  the  answer  to  the  (juestion  to  which  of 
these  two  categories  does  the  variation  belong.  Moreover,  in  consider- 
ing the  variations  of  any  one  species  the  variations  of  tiie  group  to 
which  that  species  belongs  must  be  taken  into  consideration  also,  as 
well  as  the  liability  to  moditication  of  each  and  every  part. 

Ditt'erences  of  size,  unless  excessive,  are  of  little  value,  provided  the 
parts  preserve  their  relative  proportions,  and  in  judging  of  differences 
in  proportion  the  age  of  the  individual  must  be  taken  into  account. 
This  fact  was  very  strongly  impressed  upon  the  writer  many  years  ago 
by  the  study  of  an  extensive  series  of  skulls  of  the  Orang,  represent- 
ing individuals  of  all  ages,  and  Mr.  J.  A.  Allen  has  noted  similar  dif- 
ferences, due  to  age,  in  skulls  of  the  spider  monkey. 

The  examination  of  some  considerable  series  of  skeletons  of  various 
animals  has  confirmed  my  belief  in  the  existence  of  a  large  amount  of 
individual  variation,  while  at  the  same  time  creating  r.u  equal  belief 
that,  as  a  rule,  the  difference  between  specific  and  iiulividual  variation 
is  readily  recognizable. 

In  the  present  case  the  amount  of  variation  is  no  more  than  might 
be  expected  to  be  found  in  any  large  bird  were  an  equal  series  of  bones 
examined.  The  skulls  in  particular  present  a  striking  similarity  not 
only  in  shape  but  in  size,  and  of  seventeen  crania  ten  have  exactly 
the  same  parietal  breadth,  while  the  largest  differs  from  the  smallest 
by  little  more  than  6""",  a  diflference  that  must  be  considered  trivial 
when  the  size  of  the  skull  is  taken  into  account.  Moreover,  this  vari- 
ation Is  due  to  two  skulls,  one  of  which  is  unusally  large,  while  the  other 
is  equally  small. 

By  far  the  largest  skull  on  record  is  one  collected  by  Professor  Milne 
antl  now  in  the  museum  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England.  The 
measurements  of  this  specimen  appear  in  the  table  given  farther  on. 

The  shape  of  the  foramen  magnum  and  the  number  of  perforations 


ti 


a 
b 


b 


mi 
rii 
pa 
Tt 
th 
wi 

I 

eti 


A 


EXPEDITION   TO   PITNK    IHLAND. 


517 


in  the  dupresHioiis  t'oitlic  .supraorbitii)  ^laiidH  ani  of  no  value  whatever, 
nor  \H  the  varyin^j  outline  of  the  rej^ion  bouiukMl  by  the  .supraorbital, 
temporal,  and  crotaphyte  t'oaHiv  of  nuich  mote  importance,  Hince  the»o 
are  all  eharacters  largely  influenced  by  age. 

Mr.  (1.  K.  Gilbert's  address  on  special  proceasea  of  research  sug- 
gested that  the  gra])hic  method  might  be  emi)loyed  to  good  advantage 
in  showing  the  relative  sizes  and  range  of  variation  in  the  crania,  and 
also  in  some  of  the  other  bones,  as  well  as  the  correspondence  in  size 
between  bones  from  the  right  and  left  sides. 


■13 

44 

45 

46 

47 

46 

49 

50 

51 

/SO 

• 

o« 

0 

151 

i:>2 

• 

• 

o 

0 

m 

o* 

154 

ijj 

156 

157 

o* 

156 

• 

S« 

159 

o* 

160 

• 
• 
• 

o 
o 
o 

161 

162 

0  • 

163 

164 

165 

o 

• 

Diagram  sbowtng  the  lengtli  and  breadth  of  sixteen  skulls  of  the  Great  Auk.  The  vertical  colnrans 
give  the  length,  the  hurizuutal  coluuius  the  breadth,  iu  luillimeters.  Black  dots  indicate  parietal 
breadth;  circles  indicate  frontal  breadth. 

The  table  giving  the  relative  measurements  of  crania  shows  that,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  the  length  is  subject  to  greater  positive  va- 
riation than  either  the  frontal  or  parietal  breadth,  although  the  com- 
parative variation  of  these  parts  is  greater  than  the  linear  variation. 
The  table  shows  very  clearly  too  that  the  frontal  and  parietal  width  of 
the  greater  number  of  crania  is  the  bame — IS""'",  and  that  the  frontal 
width  is  slightly  in  excess  of  the  parietal. 

The  amount  of  linear  variation  is  15'"%  the  frontal  T"",  and  the  pari- 
etal 8"»n». 


t^ 


518 


REPORT   OP   NATIONAL    MIT8EITM,  lft88. 


/     ->• 


Tlio  vcrtcbni' (lilV«'r  roiisnh'iiiltl.v  amoii;;  ili»'m.s«'lv«^M  in  size,  hut  for 
reasons iilrt'iuly  j-ivon  it  is  iinpossiWlc  lodt'li'iiiiiiM'  the  iinioiMit  of  varia- 
tion in  the  vertebral  column  falvcn  in  itw  entirety. 

The  odontoid  notch  of  tlie  atlas  presents  ^reat  diversity  of  shape,  ap- 
pearing in  two  cases  as  a  mere  slit,  while  in  three  out  of  fifteen  speci- 
UKMiH  ossification  has  l>rid;,^ed  over  the  notch  and  (;onveited  it  into  a 
foramen  so  that  the  atlas  presents  very  much  the  api>earance  of  having 
belonged  to  one  of  the  higher  altrices. 

The  shape  and  si/e  of  the  neural  cranal  varies,  but  it  is  always  wider 
than  high.  The  centrum  of  the  axis  is  subject  to  much  variation  in 
si/.e  and  shape,  an<l  tlu^  various  processes  are  e(iually  diversitied.  In 
veiy  rare  instances  the  vertelral  artery  sends  a  branch  upward  through 
a  minute  foiamen  at  the  base  of  the  metapopliysis,  but  ordinarily  tlu'ro 
is  only  a  notch  present  at  this  si>ot.  The  sixth  to  ninth  cervicals,  in- 
clusive, have  many  features  in  common  and  these  resenddances  render 
it  extremely  difticult  to  distinguish  them  from  one  another  when,  as  in 
the  present  instance,  a  large  mnnber  are  mixed  together,  since,  for  ex- 
PMiple,  the  sixth  vertebra  o  "  large  bird  is  almost  the  exact  <;ounterpart 
of  the  seventii  of  a  smaller  specimen.  In  fa<;i ,  but  for  Professor  Owen's 
memoir  on  the  Great  Auk,  the  "  making  uj)"  of  skeletons  would  have 
been  extremely  diiiicult  owing  to  the  amount  of  individual  variation. 

The  tenth  cervical,  however,  was  shown  by  Professor  Owen's  paper 
to  have  a  very  characteristic  shape,  being  distinguished  by  a  broad 
ijypapophysis  directed  forward,  and  this  furnished  one  point  of  depart- 
ure for  the  arrangement  of  the  vertebral  column. 

In  the  dorsal  region  there  are  ditterences  in  the  development  of  the 
hypapophyses,  but  these  seem  as  nught  be  supposed,  to  be  correlated 
with  ditterences  in  the  size  and  strength  of  individuals. 

The  length,  strength,  and  curvature  of  dorsal  and  steriuil  ribs  is  of 
course  variable,  and  the  number  of  epipleural  appendages  seems  to  have 
been  by  no  means  constant. 

It  may  be  said  that  comparatively  few  epipleurals  could  be  found,  as 
these  little  bones  are  so  thin  that  they  readily  decompose. 

The  skeleton  described  by  Professor  Owen  seenis  to  have  been  that 
of  a  very  old  bird,  and  epipleurals  were  pr-^sent  on  the  second  pair  of 
cervical  ribs,  this,  in  the  light  of  the  material  in  hand,  being  of  ex- 
tremely rare  occurrence. 

A  most  interesting  and  instructive  variation  is  of  frequent  occurrence 
in  the  "  sacrum  "  which  is  composed  of  fourteen  vertebne,  the  first  bear- 
ing the  eighth,  and  ordinarily  the  last,  pair  of  ribs.  But  it  often  hap- 
pens that  the  second  sacral  also  shows  articulations,  indicating  the 
presence  of  a  ninth  pair  of  ribs,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  when 
this  extra  pair  of  ribs  is  present  there  is  usually  fouiul  to  be  a  rudimen- 
tary pair  of  parapophyses  developed  on  the  first  true  sacral,  as  if  the 
rib  creating  force  had  been  felt  still  further  down  the  line  of  vertebra?. 
Twenty-three  out  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four  sacra  had  an  extra, 


1 


EXPEIilTION   TO    FUNK    ISLAND. 


519 


as; 


ap- 

the 

len 

en 

the 

rji\ 

;ra, 


ninth,  pair  of  ribs,  ami  one  had  an  extra  rib  on  one  nide  only.  In  one 
cuHe  the  ninth  pair  of  ribs  Wiisconiplctely  fiLsed  with  the  8a<!ruin,  hIiow- 
in^;  not  the  Hlightest  trace  of  fornier  artiiMdatioii,  althongh  tlie  eighth 
pair  was  free.  Twenty-tliiee  siicni  also,  bi»t  not  those  just  noted,  were 
composed  of  tifteen  vertebne,  owing  to  tlie  inclusion  of  tlie  seventh 
dorsal  by  anchylosis.  Of  course  the  niiiuber  of  (taudals  included  in  the 
sacral  mass  may  be  one  less  or  one  more,  tliis  depending  largely  on  the 
age  of  the  individual;  but  the  normal  •< sacrum"  is  composed  of  five 
presacrals,  three  true  sacrals,  and  six  urosa(!rals. 

The  Great  Auk  has  the  characteristic  ahiine  stennim,  and  this  is 
subject  to  the  same  variations  found  in  other  members  of  the  family, 
the  xiphoidal  extremity  being  entire,  perforate  or  notched. 

These  diflferences  are  largely  due  to  age,  notches  becoming  trans- 
formed Into  foramina,  and  foramina  being  obliterated  by  the  extensioii 
of  ossification  into  the  membrane  filling  the  vacuities.  The  same  thing 
may  be  seen  to  some  extent  in  the  Loons,  and  the  character  of  the 
xiphoid  extremity  of  the  sternum  has  by  no  means  the  same  value  among 
the  generalized  water  birds  that  it  has  among  the  more  specialized 
Passeres. 

The  extra  ribs  furnish  another  case  in  point,  for  although  variation 
in  the  number  of  ribs  is  liable  to  occur  among  mammals,  and  is  not  in- 
frequent in  passerine  birds,  such  variation  would  naturally  be  ofteuer 
found  in  more  generalized  forms. 

The  greater  the  number  of  similar  skeletal  parts  and  the  more  gen- 
eralized the  form  the  greater  would  seem  the  tendency  to  variation. 
Thus  among  the  Urodele  Batrachia  the  number  of  presacral  vertebrce 
is  not  si)eciflcally  constant,  and  so  fre(iuent  are  variations  in  the  post- 
sacral  region  that  total  number  of  vertebrse  is  almost  of  no  importance 
even  as  a  specific  character. 

Fishes  might  seem  to  offer  an  exception  to  this  for  in  the  Tamilies  8er- 
ranid(e,  Sparida;  and  Caranyidw  the  number  of  abdominal  and  caudal  ver* 
tebriB  is  not  only  remarkably  constant  for  the  species,  but  even  for  the 
family.  But  these  fishes  have  a  comparatively  small  number  of  verte- 
bral segments  (generally  ten  to  fourteen),  while  in  other  members 
of  the  same  superfamily,  groups  in  which  the  number  of  vertebrie  is 
greater,  the  amount  of  variation  is  greater.  And  the  specialized  Aca- 
thopterygiaus  mentioned  stand  in  relation  to  other  fishes  much  as  the 
Passeres  do  to  other  birds.*  Occasionallj'^  eight  pairs  of  ribs  were  con- 
nected with  the  costal  margin  of  the  sternum,  the  normal  number  thus 
attached  being  seven. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  if  the  sterna  with  eight  pairs  of  cos- 
tal faceib  l^elouged  to  the  birds,  with  nine  pairs  of  ribs,  but  this  ques- 
tion can  not  be  answered,  although  from  one  or  two  similar  instances 
that  have  come  under  my  notice  among  other  birds  it  is  quite  probable 
that  this  was  the  case. 

*  For  the  above  facts  pertaiuiug  to  lishea  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Theo.  GilL 


I 


620  Ui:i'()KT   OF    NATIONAL    MirsKUM,  IHH8. 

Tlu^  following  (iililc  ;;iv(>s  tli<M-i>.siilt  (il'tlic  cxiiitiitiiitioii  of  Miiit.v-ono 
Htcniii,  ultliuii^h  it  nIioiiIiI  Im>  siiiil  tliiit  in  Moiiict-iiHCH  one  (rostal  iMitdci 
was  wholly  or  piutiiili.y  larkiiii;.  Still  as  only  our  (!as»«  oimmitn  anion;? 
tluMMitii'ti  Htmim  in  wlilcli  llii>  nnrnlH>rof  rll»H  uttuclaid  to  eacli  Hide 
ViiritMl,  tlio  t'lict  istronipaiativcly  nniinpoitant. 

HtiMiia  Willi  nIx  piiirN  of  artinilar  ftuiotH 1 

Hti'i'iiu  witli  Novell  iniii'H  of  allien  la  i-  laiotN '2\\ 

HltU'iia  witii  ei^lit  (taii'M  of  articular  lacotH ti 

Hteriitt  with  Nuveii  factttH  on  oiio  bIiIi^  and  i^'i^Ui  on  tlio  otiior 1 

Total  niiinlMtrof  Htcriia  oxaiiiinoil Ml 

Of  tlie  Ht«'rna  with  ci^'ht  pairn  oCaiticnlar  lainits  two  bad  evidiMitly 
borno  ii  lia-nnipopliysis  attaciicd  to  tlu^  hiummmI,  posterior  (r(Mvi(!al  rib. 
Wliilc  tInM!oracoi(l  pn'sciits  ('((nsich'rahli'  variety  in  the  amount  ofdo- 
vclopnient  of  tluu'pintraroid  as  well  as  in  the  sliapt^  and  extent  of  tiio 
Hternal  articular  snrfa(;e,  it  is  always  nnniistakaliie  in  its  ^leneral  <H)n- 
tour,  and  the  hhuic  niuy  hu  said  of  nearly  all  the  bonuH  of  ihu  (ireat 
Auk. 

The  greater  nund)er  of  liuinerl  are  honi  Itl.'l  to  lOS  """  in  length,  and 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  mean  of  tiiree  hundred  humeri  agrees 
very  nicely  with  these  ligures,  being  l(r>.75  """. 

This  bone,  perha|)S  the  most  chara<^teristi(r  of  the,  entire  skeh^ton, 
seems  to  vary  less  in  its  proportion^  than  any  of  the  other  long  bonew, 
not  presenting  such  perceptible  dillerences  in  diameter  as  arc  found  in 
either  the  femur  or  tibia. 

It  is  a  little  singular  that  the  greatest  amount  of  linear  variation- 
taking  into  consideration  the  length  of  the  bone — sliouhl  be  found  in  the 
femur,  while  it  also  shows  very  consitlerable  dillerences  of  proportion, 
8ome  femora  being  much  more  slen<ler  than  others  of  the  same  length, 
the  longest  not  always  being  the  strongest. 

The  same  differences  of  length  and  proportions  fouiul  in  the  femur 
obtain  to  a  lesser  degree  in  the  tibia,  and  also  in  the  tarsus.  This  last 
bone  occasionally  develops  a  small  tubercle  on  the  posterointernal  edge, 
about  where  the  first  metatarsal  arises  in  four-toed  birds,  a  peculiarity 
noticed  by  Professor  Milne. 

Thirteen  out  of  one  hundred  and  forty-two  tarsi  have  this  tubercle, 
and  although  it  ordinarily  ai)pears  to  form  an  integral  [)artof  the  tarsus 
there  are  some  specimens  which  indicate  that  in  young  birds  it  may 
have  been  free,  so  that  the  tubercle  probably  represents  a  rudimentary 
first  metatarsal. 

This  and  the  frequent  presence  of  an  extra  pair  of  ribs  would  seem  to 
be  reversionary  characters,  hinting  at  some  ancestral  form  with  more 
digits  and  more  ribs  than  the  Great  Auk. 

The  measurements  of  so  considerable  a  number  of  bones  from  oppo- 
site sides  may  be  looked  upon  as  throwing  some  light  on  tlie  question 
of  correspoudeuco  in  size  between  bones  from  the  right  and  left  sides. 


I 


i, 


X. 


KXIM'.IUTION    TO    FITNK    IHLAND. 


521 


1 

G 

1 


t         ■ 


9  « 


%  t> 


iiltlxHi^li  niituriill.v  tli«>  ivHiilts  itn*  hy  no  inciiiiH  su  siitisliU'tory  :ih  i'ciU'li 
pair  of  ItoiiOH  (;)iin«^  Iroiii  our  iiidivliliial. 

TIh^  honcM  iiM'iiMiinMl  wtMotukuii  iit  lmpliJizjinl,cjmi  \mng  takononly 
to  Nt^Icct  Mu<;li  lis  wcrt^  in  };oo<I  (condition  and  whose  uirasurciiuMilH 
uditM  not  hnlcsscutMl  by  liny  wearing  away  of  tlirir  I'xtn'initics.  In 
ilic  tlin'c  following  lahlcs  tln>  vertical  i'oluinns  sIm»w  the  nt.njher  of  in- 
<livl(lna1s,  the  hori/ontal  Ki^'i»R  the  extretiiu  len^'Mi  of  the  hone,  in  a 
strai^'ht  line,  in  niillinieturs.  Tlu^  iiiil)rokeu  line  lepieHents  hones  from 
tliei'i}{lit  side,  the  iiiterrnpted  line  those  from  the  left.  In  all  eases  an 
ecpuil  nnmlxT  of  hones  weie  tak(>n  from  either  side. 

In  all  rases  the  perp<'ndienlar  eolnmii  indi(;ateH  niunher  of  individ- 
uals, the  horiisontal  column  length  in  millinieteiH. 


96 

97 

98 

90 

100 

lot 

/as 

AH 

iW 

as 

/rjf) 

K/7 

/W 

m) 

I/O 

fU 

//L' 

m 

JJ4 

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*^. 

^ 

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if 

J 

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\% 

: 

6 

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i  / 

s\ 

'°'\ 

\ 

8 

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> 

i 

c 

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1 

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9 

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1    ! 

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10 

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1 

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j^^ 

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b.- 

1 
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J 

Diui^raiu  showiu);  ttiu  lucaHurt'iiioiitM  of  thruo  hundred  liiiinuii  of  tliu  Uruat  Auk,  aud  thu  rvlatiou 
•  betwt^uii  tboau  ot  tbo  right  uuU  left  side. 


)po- 
tion 
des, 


522 


REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,  1888. 


•') 


i 


I 


64 

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m 

67 

6(9 

60 

70 

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7L' 

73 

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77 

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16 
17 

¥! 

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- 

b 

Diagram  sbowiug  the  measureniciitu  of  two  liundri'd  femora  of  the  Great  Ank,  and  the  relations  be 

tween  those  of  the  right  and  left  Hideti, 


122 

I2S 

12^ 

US 

126 

127 

128 

129  13 

0  131 

132 

m 

m 

I3S 

m 

137 

I3S 

m 

/-^^ 

/♦/ 

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/ 

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Piagraiu  showiug  tUo  moasurcmouta  of  two  hundred  tibio)  of  the  Qroat  Auk,  aud  the  relatioua  bo- 

tweeu  those  of  the  right  aud  left  sides. 


EXPEDITION   TO    Fl  NK    ISLAND. 


523 


0 

It  is  singular  that  Mm  closest  c()ircs|)()n(ltMU!e  between  the  curves  lep- 
resenting  right  and  left  sides  should  be  exhibited  by  tiie  diagrams  giv- 
ing the  nieasureinents  of  the  femur,  the  most  variable  bone — while  the 
least  harmony  is  found  among  the  humeri,  bones  which  differ  least 
among  themselves. 

This  discrepancy  is  caused  by  an  unusually  large  number  of  left  hu- 
meri having  a  length  of  110""",  but  on  tho  whole  the  curves  follow  one 
another  very  closely,  the  maximum  point  being  reached  with  great  una- 
nimity, and  the  sizes  of  the  bones  decreasing  or  increasing  quite  regu- 
larly from  that. 

From  the  examination  of  this  large  amount  of  material  it  would  seem 
that  considerable  variation  may  exist  in  the  size  of  individuals,  that  the 
number  of  ribs  may  be  slightly  inconstant  and  that  a  certain  amount 
of  variation  may  be  found  in  the  development  of  the  various  processes 
of  the  vertebrre.  On  the  other  hand  the  skull,  sternum,  and  pelvis 
afford  very  substantial  comparative  characters. 

In  regard  to  the  question  of  size,  it  can  be  said  that  there  is  nothing, 
as  in  the  case  of  Diilinc  remains,  to  indicate  sexual  difference  in  this 
particular,  for  between  the  largest  and  the  smallest  bones  may  be  found 
all  intermediate  grades. 

This,  however,  is  what  might  have  been  expected,  for  the  Alcidce 
present  but  slight  sexual  variations  in  size,  while  Professor  Newton 
has  pointed  out  a  good  reason  for  the  slight  amount  of  proportional 
variation  in  the  fact  that  the  bones  represent  individuals  from  the  same 
epoch  «ud  locality,  and  not  those  separated  from  one  another  by  long 
intervals  of  time  or  space. 

Measurements,  in  jnillimetera,  of  Crania  of  the  Great  Auk, 


Greatest  length  between  perpendicuiiirH 

Qreateat  parietal  breadth  above  arlicu'a- 
lation  nt'  quadrate 

Greatest  post  frontal  breadth 

Height  from  basi-sphenoid  to  frontal 

Height  of  culmen  immediately  in  fron^  of 
nasal  opening 

Length  from  posterior   end  of  occipital 
ridge  to  root  of  intermaxillary 

Length  of  mandible 

Length  of  mandibular  symphysis    , . . 


Cam 
bridge, 

18220. 

18117. 

18120. 

18231. 

18232. 

165 

150 

152 

152 

158 

155 

50 

48 

45 

48 

48 

48 

49 

51 

49 

51 

48 

48 

32 

32 

33 

32 

32 

33 

25 

22 

22 

22 

23 

23 

62 

61 

58 

61 

58 

61 

142 
27 

137 
24 

135 
26 

144 
23 

139 
23 

142 

25 

18233. 


162 

48 
48 
33 

23 

61 

139 

23 


V     ^ 


V 


hi  i 


524  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,  1888. 

Measnrvmeuls,  in  milUmvtiis,  of  Crania  of  the  Great  .Ink — ('(tnt.iimrd. 


Greatest  longtli  botwooii  i)or|H'H(U''ular8. . 

GreatoHt  ^)areitai  lireadtli  abovo   artii'.ula- 
latioii  ()»  ()ua(Laio 


Greatest  post  frontal  bicaiUli 

Hi)!bo3t  from  basi-spheiioid  to  frontal 

Ileiglit  of  ciiliiien  ininicdiately  in  front  of 
nasal  opening 

Lengtb   from    ])oaterior  end   of  occipital 
ridge  to  root  of  intermaxillary 

Length  of  mandible 

Length  of  mandibular  symphysis  


150 


B.    I    C. 


43 

48 

48 

51 

30 

y3 

23 

25 

54 

63 

135 

139 

23 

24 

IfiU  !     160 

48 
SI 
34 

26 

61 
144 

25 


D. 

158 

47 
48 
33 

22 

62 

142 
23 


E. 


F.    '     G.       H. 


160       159 


48 
51 
33 

23 

61 

141 
23 


45 
45 
32 


00 

140 

23 


153 

47 
48 


23 

01 

145 

23 


155 

48 
48 
33 

22 

60 


157 

48 
61 
32 

24 


Measurementa,  in  mWimeters,  of  Sterna  of  (heat  Auk. 


Length  from  manubrium  to  xiphoid 
extremity 


Width  across  first  pair  of  costal 
articulations 


Width  across  seventh  pair  of  coHal 
articulations 


Xiphoid  border,  entire,  u.itched,  or 
perforate 

Least  width 

Greatest  posterior  width 

Depth  from  manubrium  to  keel 


A. 

B. 

c. 

211 

193 

190 

69 

62 

00 

48 

47 

49 

1  perforation 

2nct'jhes 

Entire. 

45 

43 

40  1 

58 

50 

54 

Broken 

54 

58 

u. 


204 
04 

45 

tion» 
43 


53 


206 
64 

Cntiie, 


58 


18117. 

196 
64 

45 

1  notch. 
43 
58 
56 


C. — List  of  Books  and  Papers  Eelating  to  the  Great  Auk 

Although  it  is  believed  that  no  paper  of  importance  has  been  omitted 
from  this  list,  it  is  by  uo  means  a  complete  bibliography  of  the  literature 
pertaining  to  the  Great  Auk. 

The  numerous  incomplete  lists  of  specimens  have  been  designedly 
left  out,  as  well  as  the  republications  of  many  articles  and  some  short 
notes  that  contributed  nothing  to  the  subject. 

Some  short  notes  are  cited  from  their  bearing  on  particular  pointfi  in 
the  history  of  the  Great  Auk,  and  the  earlier  allusions  to  the  Garefowl 
in  America  are  included,  owing  to  the  general  interest  attached  to 
them. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  Mr.  Stejneger  for  assistance  in  preparing 
this  portion  of  the  paper,  and  have  drawn  upon  the  bibliography  of  Dr. 
Cones  and  from  the  monograph  of  Mr.  Grieve,  which  contains  a  host  of 
valuable  references  to  the  earlier  notices  of  the  Great  Auk. 

The  edition  of  Hakluyt  cited  is  that  of  1600. 

1534.  Cartier,  Jaqiies.     The  first  relation  of  Jaqiies  Carthier  of  S.  Malo,  of  the  new 
land  called  New  France,  new!;;    '.iscovered  v>  the  year  of  our  Lord  1534. 
<Hakluyc.    Collection  of  voyages,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  ,01-212. 
Contains  (p.  202)  the  earliest  known  reference  to  the  Great  Ai»k  in  America, 
and  an  account  of  Cartier's  visit  to  Funk  I&land.    Page  205  describes  tbu 
Bird  Bocks  and  agai  n  speaks  of  the  Apponatz. 


*      ^ 


EXPEDITION    TO    FUNK    ISLAND. 


525 


157 

48 
51 
32 

24 

63 


196 

64 

40 

notch. 
45 
58 
5G 


1535.  Cartier,  Jcaqnes.    A  .shorto  aiid  briisfo  narration  of  the  navigations  made  hy  the 

connnandnient  of  the  Kinj;  of  Franco  to  t\\v,  llai'dH  of  Canada,  Hochelaga, 
Sagnenay,  and  divors  others  which  now  arc  called  New  France,  with  the 
particular  cnstonis  and  manors  of  the  inhabitants  therein. 

Haklnyt  pp.  2l'2-2:U. 

Cartier's  Kecond  vovago.  On  the  7th  of  July  the  ships  stopped  at  Funk  Island 
(the  ilaud  of  htrds)  for  proviHions,  this  being  tins  part  of  Newfoundland  they 
first  reached.  "The  Hand  of  Birds  »  •  »  lycth  from  the  inaine  laud  14 
leagues,     »     ♦     *     it  "  hath  the  pole  elevated  49  degrees  and  40  minutes." 

1536.  Hore,  Robert.     The  voyage  of  M.  Ilore  and  divers  other  gentlemen,  lo  New- 

foundland and  Capo  Briton  in  the  yere  153(j  and  in  the  28th  yere  oi  King 

Henry  the  8. 
Hakluyt,  129-131. 
On  page  130  is  a  reference  to  the  island  of  Penguin,  which  from  the  course 

steered  from  Cape  Breton  would  seem  to  be  Penguin  Islands,  off  Cape  la 

Hune. 

1578.  Parkhurst,  Anthonio.  A  letter  written  to  M.  Richard  Hakluyt,  of  the  middle 
Temple,  contoining  a  report  of  the  true  state  and  commodities  of  Newfound- 
latid,  by  M.  Aiithonie  Parkhurst,  gentleman,  1578. 

Hakluyt,  132-134. 

On  page  133  speaks  of  "  one  Hand  named  Penguin,  where  we  may  drive  them 
[Great  Auks],  on  a  planke  into  our  ship  as  many  as  shall  lade  her."  This  is 
almost  the  exact  language  used  by  Whitbourne,  and  it  looks  as  if  it  had 
been  taken  by  him  from  Parkhurst,  Parkhurst  seems  to  have  been  engaged 
in  the  fishing  business,  and  giv:jd  a  very  careful  account  of  the  composition 
of  the  Newfoundland  fishing  fleet,  showing  that  in  his  time  the  English  were 
greatly  in  the  minority. 

1583.  Haies,  Edward.  A  report  of  the  voyage  and  snccosse  theuof,  attempted  in  the 
yore  of  our  Lcu'd  1583,  by  Sir  Humfrey  Gilbert,  knight.  »  *  "  Written 
by  M.  Jidward  Haies,  gentleman,  and  princivall  actour  in  the  same  voyage. 


1583. 


1593. 


lt>22. 


1672. 


Hakluyt,  pp.  143-101. 

Records  on  page  149,  pafHsing  Fiuk  Island,  and  mentions  the  Great  Auk  and  the 
use  of  the  salted  biids  by  the  Frotich  iishcrmflii. 

Parmenius,  Steven.     Letter  to  Richard  Hakluyt  coucorning  the  voyaj^e  of  Sir 

Humphrey  Gilbert. 
Hakluyt,  pp.  162-163. 
Parmenius  was  among  those  lost  with  Gilbert  on  the  Delight.     He  v; rites  (p. 

162),  that  oti  the  1st  of  August  they  came  to  "an  island  which  your  men  call 

Penguin,  because  of  the  multitude  of  birdes  of  the  same  nan2G.''    Curiously 

enough  he  states  that  they  saw  'lo  birds. 

Fisher,  Richard,  The  voyage  of  the  ship  called  the  Marigold  of  M.  Hill  of 
Redrife  unto  Cape  Briton  and  beyond  to  the  latitude  of  44  d(grees  and  an 
half;  1593.     Written  by  Richard  Fisher,  Master  Hilles  man,  of  Redrife. 

Hakluyt,  i>p.  191-193. 

Speaks  (p.  192)  of  the  Pongwyns  as  seen  at  Cape  Briton. 

Wliitbourne,   Richard.     A  discourse  and  discovery  of  Newfoundland,   etc  . 

written  by  Captain   Richard  Wliitbourne,  of  Exmouth,  in   the  county  of 

Devon     »     »     »     Imprinted  at  London  by  Felix  Kinston,  1622. 
.Tosselyn,  J(dni.     New  England's  rarities  discovered  in  birds,  beasts,  fishes, 

serpents,  and  plants  of  that  country,  etc.     By  John  Josselyn,  gent.    Loudon, 

1(572. 
Mentions  "  The  wobble,  an  ill-favored  fowl,  having  uo  long  feathers  in  their 

pinions,  which  is  the  reason  why  they  cannot  fly." 


526 


REPORT   OP   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,  1888. 


f 


1785.   Cartwright,  George.     Journal  of  Transactions  and  Events  during  a  residence 
of  nearly  sixteen  years  on  tlie  Coast  of  Lal)rador. 

Vol.  i:i,  page  5').  "The  birds  which  the  people  bring  from  thonco  (Funk  Isl- 
and) they  salt  and  eat  in  lien  of  salted  pork."  *  *  *  The  poor  inhabitants 
of  Fogo  Island  make  voyages  there  to  load  with  birds  and  eggs.  When  the 
water  is  smooth  they  make  their  shallop  fast  to  the  shore,  lay  their  gang- 
hoards  from  the  gunwale  of  the  boat  to  the  rocks,  and  then  drive  as  many 
penguins  on  board  as  she  will  hold,  for  the  wings  of  these  birds  being  re- 
markably short  they  cannot  Hy.  But  it  has  been  customary  of  late  years 
for  several  crew>i  of  men  to  live  all  summer  on  that  island,  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  killing  birds  for  their  feathers ;  the  destruction  which  they  have 
made  is  incredible.  If  a  stop  is  not  soon  put  to  that  practice,  the  whole  breed 
will  be  diminished  to  almost  nothing,  i>articularly  the  penguins,  for  this  is 
now  the  only  island  they  have  left  to  breed  upon."  This  long  quotation  is 
given  for  the  many  interesting  points  it  contains. 
1822.   Faber.     Prodromus  der  isKindischen  Ornithologio,  Kopenhagen,     1822. 

States  that  when  visiting  the  Westmau  Islands  in  A       st,  1821,  he  was  told 
that  it  had  been  twenty  years  since  a  Great  Auk  had  been  seen  there. 
1827-'38.    Audubon,  J.  J.    The  Birds  of  America  ;  from  original  drawings,  Lomon, 
1827-'38.     Plato  341.     Ornithological  Biography,  vol.  iv,  p.  316. 

While  Audubon  never  saw  the  bird  alive,  his  figure  is  undoubtedly  the  best 
published.  The  Great  Auk  was  a  stout,  thick-necked  bird,  built  much  on 
the  plan  of  the  Razorbill,  yet  nearly  all  plates  represent  it  as  a  sort  of  cross 
between  a  Murre  and  a  Loon,  with  a  smiAl  head,  slender  neck,  and  unduly 
obese  body.  Audubon's  fignre  was  probably  made  from  an  English  specimen, 
and  his  knowledge  of  the  bird's  habits  and  habitat  was  derived  from  hears;i_v. 
1837.  Blyth,  E.  On  the  Osteology  of  the  Great  Auk  (Alca  imper.nia)  in  comparison 
with  that  of  Sphenisci. 

<P.  Z.  S.,  V.   837,  pp.  12«,123. 
1842.   Bonny  castle,  Richard,     Newioundland  in  1842. 

Vol.  I,  page  232,  says  tnat  "  the  large  Auk  or  Penguin  ^Alca  impenniii  L.)  which 
not  fifty  years  ago  was  a  sure  sea-mark  on  the  edge  of  and  inside  the  banka, 
has  totally  disappeared  from  the  ruthless  trade  in  its  eggs  and  skin." 
1854.  Lloyd,  L.     The  Great  Auk  (Alca  impennis)  still  found  in  Iceland. 

<Edinb.  New  Philos.  Journ.,  Ivi,  1854,  pp.  260-262. 

Extract  from  his  Scandinavi  ;'.n  Adventures,  ii,  page  495. 
1856-57.  Steeustrnp,  J.     Et  Bidrag  til   Geirfuglens,   Alca  impennis  Lin.,  Natnrhi- 
storie,  og  srerligt  til  Kundskab"  >  om  dens  tidligere  Udbredningskreds. 

<Vidensk.  Meddel.    Naturhist.   Foren.  Kjobenhavu,  for  Aaret  1855,  Nr.  3-7, 
1856-'57,  pp.  3.3-116,  Kart  og  Tavle. 

In  this  i)aper  nearly  all  the  known  facta  in  regard  to  the  Great  Auk  were 
brought  together  for  the  first  time.  Stuvitz's  visit  to  Funk  Island  is  quoted 
at  some  length  and  evidence  brought  forward  to  show  that  the  Great  Auk 
was  not  a  dweller  within  the  Arctic  circle.  There  are  two  German  and  one 
Freni-h  translation  of  this  important  paper,  the  most  available  being  the 
French  version  in  Bull.  Soc.  Ornith.  Suisse,  ii,  1  e.  pte.,  1868,  pp.  5-70. 
1859  ?  Char.ton,  E.    On  the  Great  Auk  (Alca  impennis). 

<Trans.  Tyneside  Nat.  Field  Club,  iv,  1859  (?),  pp.  113  et  aeq.    Reprinted  ir 
Zoologist,  1860,  pp.  6883-6888. 

Largely  a  compilation.     Interestiug  as  stating  that  the  dried  bodies  of  Auki 
and  Guillemots  are  used  for  fuel  on  the  Westmau n  Islands. 
1860.  M'Clintock,  F.  J.    TL.o  Gre^t  Auk  (Aha  impennia). 

<Zoologi8t,  XVIII,  lt"50,  6981, 

Notes  that  the  Great  Auk  has  not  been  met  with  by  any  of  the  modern  Arctic^ 
expeditions. 


♦ 


♦  ♦ 


i   • 


EXPEDITION   TO   FUNK   ISLAND. 


627 


I  residence 

(Funk  IhI- 
iliabitants 
When  the 
heir  >?any- 
(^  as  many 
9  beiiif^  re- 
late years 
e  sole  pur- 
they  have 
bole  breed 
for  this  is 
notation  is 

!22. 

e  wsis  told 

)re. 

i,  Loutou, 

y  the  best 
t  much  on 
irt  of  cross 
id  unduly 
specimen, 
n  hear.siiy. 
omparison 


L.)  which 
he  banks, 


1861. 


Naturhi- 
Jds. 
Nr.  3-7, 

^uk  were 
is  quoted 
reat  Auk 
]  and  one 
)eing  the 
70. 

rinted  ii 

I  of  Ank( 


ru  Arcti(^ 


1862. 


1803. 


1865. 


1865. 


1865. 


1868. 


1868. 


1869, 


1869. 


1869, 


Newton,  Alfred.    Abstract  of  Mr.  J.  WoUey's  lit.searchcs  in  Iceland,  respecting 

the  Garo-fowl,  or  G;  ^at  Auk  (AIca  impeunis,  Linn). 
<IbiH,  III,  1861,  pp.  37'l-399.      Heprinted  in  Zoologist,  XX,  1862,  pp.  8108-8130. 
An  important  papor.oontiiininy  many  bibliographical  references.      Sho\v,s  the 

Great  Auk  to  be  extinct  in  Iceland,  and  that  the  bird  never  was  so  abundant 

there  as  had  been  suppo.scd.    Gives  a  very  full  account  of  the  last  specimeua 

taken  and  their  disposition. 
Proyer,  W.     Uebor  I'laiitun  impennia  BrUnn. 
<Journal  fur  Oruitholoyie,  x,  1862,  pp.  110-124,  337-356. 
Systematic  position,  bibliography  and  synonomy,  geographical  distribution, 

past  and  present,  and  much  historical  matter. 

Newton,  A.    Remarks  on  the  Exhibition  of  a  Natural  Mummy  of  Alca  Impennis. 

<P.  Z.  S.,  1862,  pp.  435-438. 

This  was  one  of  the  specimens  obtained  fromFnnk  Island  at  the  time  the  guano 
was  removed. 

Field,  E.  Letter  from  the  Right  Rev.  the  Bishop  of  Newfoundland  concerning 
the  mummy  of  the  Great  Auk  (Alca  impcuuis)  found  on  the  Funk  IslaudSr 

<Trans.  Nova  Scotia  lust.  Nat.  Sci.,  i,  pt.  in,  1865,  p.  145. 

Notes  that  three  "  mummies  "  were  found,  one  of  which  went  to  Prof.  A.  Newton, 
another  to  Prof.  L.  Agassiz,  the  third  to  J.  M.  .foiies,  president  of  the  institu- 
tion. This  third  specimen  was  presented  by  Mr.  Jones  to  the  British  Mu- 
seum. 

Owen,  R.  Description  of  the  skeleton  of  the  Great  Auk,  or  Gare-Fowl  (Alca  im- 
l^sniiia,  L. ). 

<Tran8.  Zool.  Soc,  Loudon,  Vol.  v.,  pt.  iv.,  1865  (read  1864),  pp.  317-335,  pi. 
LI  Lii,  and  a  small  map. 

A  detailed  description  of  the  skeleton  of  the  Great  Auk,  from  one  of  the  three 
"  mummied"  specimens  obtained  at  Funk  Island  in  1863.  The  paper  is  only 
to  a  slight  extent  comparative,  other  Alcidiv  being  very  little  touched  upon, 
although  some  space  is  devoted  to  shov.'ing  that  the  Great  Auk  was  not 
related  to  the  Penguins  {Sphcn'wcidw). 

Newton,  Alfred.    The  Gare-fowl  and  its  Historians. 

<Nat.  Hist.  Rev.,  Oct.,  1865,  pp.  467-488. 

A  valuable  summary  of  the  history  of  the  bird,  giving  many  bibliographical 
references.    The  writer  considers  that  the  Great  Auk  may  still  exist. 

Wynian,  Jefifries,  Note  on  the  occurrence  of  bones  of  the  Great  Ank  in  a  shell 
heap  on  Goose  Island,  Casco  Biiy,  Maine. 

This  shell  heap  was  .shown  by  Prof.  E.  S.  Morse  to  be  of  great  antiquity. 

Gurney,  J.  H.,  jr..  The  Great  Auk  {Alca  impennis). 

<Zoologi8t,  2d  Her.,  in,  181)8,  pp.  1412-14.^)3. 

A  critical  review  of  the  reported  occurrence  of  the  Groat  Auk  in  Scottish  and 
British  localities.  Some  of  the  reports  are  shown  to  rest  on  very  slight  foun- 
dation, and  the  fiillibility  of  second  hand  testimony  is  clearly  demonstrated. 

Gurney,  J.  H.,  jr.     Notes  on  the  Great  Auk  {Alca  impennis). 

<Zoologi8t,  2(1  Her.,  iv,  1869,  pp.  1639-1643. 

Contains  description  of  winter  plumage,  and  notices  that  not  one  of  the  speci- 
mens  extant,  is  in  that  dress. 

Orton,  .J.     The  Grc'it  Auk  {Alca  impennis). 

<Am.  Nat., Ill  ,  1869,  pp.  539-542. 

Contains  but  a  single  correct  statement,  that  the  Great  Ank  is  extinct. 

Keeks,  licnry.     Notes  on  the  Zoology  of  Newfoundland. 

<Zoologi£t,  2d  ser.,  iv,  1869,  pj).  1849-1858. 

Mainly  remarks  on  the  specimens  taken  from  Funk  Island  in  1863. 


528 


REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,  1888. 


i' 


J.872.  Collett,  Robert.    Remarks  on  the  Ornithology  of  Northern  Norway. 

Forhaudl.   Vidensk.    Solsk.   Christian  ia,  187a,  pp.  182-309,  with  a  map.     Also 

reprinted  separately,  pp.  123, 
Notes  that  the  former  occurrenre  of  the  Great  Auk  in  Norway  is  very  donbtfnl, 

descriptions  of  Harelda  glacialia  having  been  mistakenly  referred  to   the 

Gare-fowl. 
1872.  Deano,  R.    Great  Ank  (J ?ca  im^jcnwjs). 
<Ain.  Nat.  VI,  1872,  pp.  UfiS-IJCil). 
Note  of  a  specimen  said  to  have  been  fonnd  dead  near  St.  Augnstin,  Labrador, 

and  sold  for  $200.     Sent  to  Franco  to  bo  nionntcd  fur  an  Austrian  museum 

(Fide  A.  Lechevallier).    If  snch  a  specimen  were  really  found  it  seems  to 

have  utterly  disappeared. 
1872.   Gurney,  J.  H.,  jr.    Great  Auk  (Alca  impennia)  at  Disco. 
<Zoologist,  2d  sor.,  vii,  1872,  pp.  ;«)()4-3()r)r). 
Note  on  reported  occurrences  of  Great  Auks  at  Disco,  Greenland. 

1875.  Miino,  John.     Relics  of  the  Great  Auk  on  Funk  Island. 
Reprintod  from  The  Field  of  March  27,  and  April  :5  and  10,  187.^). 

An  account  of  the  author's  visit  to  Funk  l8lau<l  in  1874,  Avith  arAsumd  of  vari- 
ous facts  pertaining  to  the  Great  Auk. 

1876.  Allen,  J.  A.     The  Extinction  of  the  Great  Auk  (^Alca  impeiniis)  at  the  Funk 

Islands. 

<Ani.  Nat.,  x.,  No.  1,  Jan.,  187G,  p.  48. 

Notes  the  destruction  of  the  birds  for  their  feathers  and  the  use  of  the  bodies 
for  fuel. 

Newton,  A.     <^Article  Birds,  Ency.  Brit.,  ninth  edition,  vol  iii,  pp.  7:54-735. 

A  brief  account  of  the  extermination  of  the  Great  Auk. 

Newton,  A.     Gare-fowl. 

<EncyclopaHlia  Britannica,  ninth  edition,  x,  pp.  78-80. 

A  necessarily  brief  history  of  the  Great  Auk,  with  list  of  more  important 
papers  pertaining  to  the  subject. 

Cory,  C.  B.    The  Beautiful  and  Curious  Birds  of  the  World.    Boston,  1883. 

Plate  V,  with  accompanying  text. 

The  figure  is  three-quarters  life  size,  but  like  most  figures  represents  tho  bird 
with  too  large  a  Dody  and  too  slender  a  neck. 

Blasius,  Dr.  Wilhelm.  Ueber  die  lotzten  Vorkommnissedes  Riesen-Alks  (Alcaim- 
jjpnjiis)  und  die  in  Braunschweig  nud  an  andereu  Orten  bofindlichen  Exem- 
plare  dieser  Art. 

Ver.  f.  Naturw.  z.  Braunschweig,  iii,  Jahresber,  f.  1881-'2-'3,  pp.  89-114. 

Aconcise  resumdof  the  literature  concerning  tho  Great  Auk,  followed  by  a  de- 
tailed account  of  the  specimens  contained  in  the  Brunswick  Museum. 

Blasius,  Dr.  Wilhelm.     Zur  Geschichte  der  Ueborreste  von  Alca  impennisLinn. 

<^Cabanis'  Journal  fur  Ornithologie,  Januar,  18ri4,  pp.  .')8-17('). 

A  detailed  list  of  all  known  specimens  of  the  Great  Auk,  alphabetically  ar- 
ranged, preceded  by  a  brief  resumd  of  the  literature  on  the  subject. 

Collett,  Robert.     Ueber  Alca  im2)eiinin  iuNorwegen. 

<Mitth.  Ornith.  Ver.  Wien,  1884,  pp.  (;.'>-()9,  W7-89. 

Notes  that  tho  Great  Auk  has  probably  been  seen  but  once  in  Norway.  Spe- 
cial reference  to  Stuvitz's  visit  to  Funk  Island,  and  description  of  his  speci- 
mens preserved  in  Christiania.  More  or  'ess  complete  skulls  of  thirty-eight 
individuals,  and  many  separate  bones. 
1885.  Grieve,  Symington.  The  Great  Auk  or  Garefowl  {Alca  tHijjcwHfs  Linn),  Its  His- 
tory, Archaeology,  and  Remains,  by  Symington  Grieve,  Edinburgh,  London  ; 
Thomas  C.  Jack,  45  Ludgato  Hill,  Edinlnirgb  ;  Grange  Publishing  Works, 
1885,  XII,  pp.  142,58  (Appendix).  Four  plates,  several  cuts  in  the  text,  and 
a  map  showing  the  distribution  of  the  Great  Auk. 


1878. 
1879. 

1883. 

1884. 


1884, 


1884, 


f 


rway. 

h  a  map.     Also 

1  very  doubtful, 
referred  to  the 


iHtiii,  Liiltrador, 
iistriiiii  tuiiNeiun 
uud  it  seems  to 


d. 

5. 

I  rfisumd  of  varl- 

ia)  at  the  Fuuk 

ISO  of  the  bodies 
I,  pp.  734-735. 

more  important 

Boston,  1883. 

seuts  the  bird 

■Alks  (J /caini- 
udlicben  Exeai- 

.p.  89-114. 
)llowo(l  by  a  de- 

[lISOUIII. 

impcnuisLinu. 

liabetically  ar- 
ibject. 


Norway.    Spe- 

011  of  bis  Hjieci- 

of  tbirty-eigbt 

Liun),  Its  His- 
urgb,  London  ; 
lisbing  Works, 
n  the  text,  and 


EXPEDITION   TO    FUNK   ISLAND. 


529 


I 


1885.  Grieve,  Symington — Continued. 

A  most  important  contribution  t  the  history  of  the  Garefowl,  containing  a 
very  full  account  of  what  is  known  concerning  its  habits,  habitat,  and  his- 
tory. A  list  is  given  of  all  known  specii.iens,  skins,  skeletons,  and  eggs, 
and  there  are  a  very  largo  number  of  references  to  the  literature  of  the  sub- 
ject. 

1886.  S  [tejneger],  L.    Grieve  on  the  Great  Auk  or  Garefowl. 
<Auk,  III,  April,  1886,  pp.  20-2-265, 

A  review  of  Grieve's  monograph.    It  i?  shown  that  there  is  but  one  specimen 
in  the  Am.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  New  YovV,  and  but  one  "  mummy"  in  the  Mus. 
Comp.  Zool.,  Cambridge. 
1888.  Lucas,  Frederic  A.     Great  Auk  Notes. 

<The  Auk,  July,  1«8S. 

Notes  on  some  of  the  supposec'  breeding  places  of  the  Great  Auk,  criticisms  on 
the  published  figures  of  the  bird,  etc.     The  writer  considers  that  the  Great 
Auk  was  much  more  restricted  iu  habitat  than  is  usually  supposed,  and  looks 
upon  its  occurrence  at  the  IJird  Rocks,  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  as  doubtful. 
1888.  Lucas,  Frederic  A.    The  Home  of  the  Great  Auk. 

<^Popular  Science  Monthly,  Augu>jt  18»8,  pp.  4.56-464. 

A  description  of  Funk  Island,  the  visit  of  the  Grampus  party,  and  their  col- 
lections. 
1888.  Grieve,  Symington.    Recent  notes  on  the  Great  Auk  or  Garefowl  (Alca  impennia 
Linn.). 

<^Tran8actious  of  the  Edinburgh  Field  Naturalists  and  Microscopical  Society. 
The  presidential  address  of  the  twentieth  session  of  the  society. 

Contains  the  most  recent  information  in  regard  to  the  Great  Auk,  with  many 
references  to  the  work  aiul  cclloctions  of  the  Grampus  expedition.  Changes 
in  the  disposition  of  Auk  remains  made  since  the  publication  of  the  writer's 
monograph  on  the  Great  Auk  are  recorded  and  a  few  slight  errors  therein 
contained  are  corrected. 

H.  Mis.  142,  pt.  2 34 


t\ 


I 


,^; 


■ 


EXPLANATION    OF    PLATE    LXXII. 
The  Great  Auk. 

ABOUT   ONE-QUARTER    NATURAL   SIZE. 

From  the  specimen  in  the  U   S.  National  Museunn,  No.  57338 

Willu'lin  Schlutor,  of  Ilallc.  ricrinany,  from  whom  tliis  Auk  wnn  jirocm-pil.  nives 
its  history  as  follows:  It  was  obtained  by  Mr.  Halmiii,  of  IlamhurK.  from  Iceland; 
by  him  sold  to  a  merchant  of  Hamburg,  who  sold  it  to  Mr,  (loetz,  of  Dresden,  who 
in  turn  parted  with  it  to  Mr.  Sehluter. 

In  the  U.  S.  National  Museum  catalogue  of  birds  it  is  recorded  as  <?  ad.  Eldey, 
June,  1834. 

Sinco  the  i)hotograph  was  taken  froui  which  the  accompanying  plate  was  nuide 
the  si)ecimen  has  been  remounted  in  a  different  attitude  and  shortened  between  two 
and  three  inches.  It  is  still,  like  nearly  all  mounted  skins.  c<msiderably  too  long, 
but  could  not  be  shortened  any  more  without  cutting  the  skin,  a  proceeding  that, 
under  the  circumstances,  was  deemed  inadmissible. 

Before  remounting  a  full-sized  figure  of  the  specimen  was  made. 


,' 


])rocuro(l.  nivos 
,  t'loiii  Ict'liind; 
I'  Urwdt'ii.  who 

w  <?  ail.  Eldoy, 

plate  was  made 
d  lu'twceii  two 
rahly  too  loiij?, 
octH'diiig  tliiit, 


Mtport  of  N*linnal  Muitum,  1888,— LuoM, 


Plate  LXXII. 


The  Great  Auk. 


1  1 


' 


V  i' 


EXPLANATION    OF    PLATE    LXXIII. 

Egg  OF  THE  Great  Auk. 

ABOUT     FOUR-FIFTHS     NATURAL    SIZE. 

From  the  original  in  the  collect'on  of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  No.  15H1. 

Tlu'  specimen  measures  1'25"""  In-  74""".  Tliis  egg  was  obtained  from  the  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  wps  originally  in  the  collection  of  O. 
-les  Murs. 

It  is  the  egg  figured  on  Plate  I,  Rovue  et  Magazin  de  Zoologie.  1863,  and  the  one 
to  which  des  Murs  refers  in  the  text  as  having  been  broken  and  restored.  That  des 
Murs  had  three  eggs  of  the  Great  Auk  is  extrenieh*  improbable,  as  he  states  that  he 
never  even  saw  more  than  the  two  in  his  possession,  and  the  reference  to  three  is 
either  a  slip  of  the  pen  or  of  memory. 

The  egg  seems  to  have  l)een  washed  since  it  was  figured,  and  the  freslinessof  the 
markings  thereby  impaired. 


I 


M^ 


:| 


V 


Report  of  National  Museum,  1888.— Lucas. 


Plate  LXXIII. 


Egg  of  the  Great  Auk 


